Sent Back
by StormSeeker25431
Summary: The characters from the PJO and HOO go back in time to read the PJO series with the gods. Percy arrives later. Takes place while they're building the Argo II.
1. Prologue

** The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 1: Prologue

It was the Winter Solstice, and of course the gods were arguing.

Zeus and Poseidon were arguing about which was better, sea disasters or air disasters. Hephaestus and Ares were arguing about Aphrodite, while she and Artemis were arguing about love. Demeter and Hades were fighting over Persephone, while said goddess sat in between them looking bored and making flowers grow around her shoes. Hera was complaining to Hestia about her husband's many affairs, while Hestia tended to the hearth saying the occasional "uhum" and "ya". Apollo and Hermes were sitting with their heads together talking in hushed whispers, and taking the occasional look toward Dionysus, who was watching them nervously behind his wine magazine. Athena sat there watching all this with a disappointed look on her face.

Just a regular old winter solstice on Olympus. Or that's what they thought. Everything seemed to change so fast as a bright light bloomed in the middle of the room stopping all arguments. As they all sat there shocked the light grew brighter, as bright as Apollo's smile, and began to rise.

Soon it touched the ceiling and the Olympians froze as they heard numerous voices screaming in fear. Athena seemed to be the only one fast enough to recover from her shock and figure out what was happening. With a wave of her hand numerous couches appeared and caught the teens that were falling.

Soon all the gods recovered from their shock and had the weapon of their choice pointed at the new comers as they slowly began to recover from their fall. A girl with curly blonde hair, and piercing gray eyes seemed to notice the Olympians first. She hastily got up and motioned for the others to follow.

Soon the gods were staring at a group of 12 demigods and 1 satyr. Zeus seemed to finally get back to himself.

"WHO DARES DISRUPT US?"

"You mean you don't know who we are?" The blonde girl asked.

"Should we?" Apollo asked.

"Well ya, we're quiet famous among you guys." The girl responded.

"Well we have no clue who you are!" Zeus thundered.

Just then, another blinding flash of light started. When it finally died a note fluttered down to Athena, and a package appeared on her lap.

"Well," Zeus said. "Read it."

"It says:"

_Dear Gods and demigods,_

_We have sent these demigods back in time to read about the best hero ever. Together you will learn the strength and battles this demigod has faced and discover the future. There will be things you want to change but __**do not under any circumstances do,**__ the future has been decided and you cannot change it. Please try to refrain yourselves from fighting (*cough Zeus, Poseidon and Hades cough*), and in no way may you hurt these demigods. Have fun reading._

_Sincerely the best gods ever,_

_Apollo and Hermes_

"We Rock!" exclaimed said gods, high-fiving each other.

"What are the books called?" asked Hestia.

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian." Athena read.

Poseidon considerably paled at the name of the demigod. While the group on the floor gasped.

"I believe you know who this Percy Jackson is?" Athena said.

"Ya he's a really good friend." The blonde girl said in a small voice.

"Well let's get reading! I'm ready for some action!" Ares said enthusiastically.

"Before we read the future demigods should introduce themselves." Artemis reasoned.

"Agreed." Athena spoke. "Demigods?"

The girl with the curly blonde hair and piercing gray eyes stepped forward. Only something seemed wrong, her eyes seemed full of grief, and now the gods looked at the others they saw the same thing.

_What has happened to make them look so sad? _the gods thought.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." She said bringing everyone's attention back to the demigods.

She stepped back as another girl stepped forward. This girl had electric blue eyes that were outlined in black eyeliner, and spiky black hair. She looked very familiar to Zeus, but he couldn't figure it out.

"I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus." All the gods gasped.

"B-but you're a tree." Hera said a little surprised and a little disappointed.

"Ya, long story about me coming back. I'm sure it will be explained in the book."

"Wait, you were a tree?" Someone behind her asked. She ignored it.

A boy took her place. He had jet black hair and eyes so dark brown they looked almost black. He also wore all black clothing.

"I'm Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades,"

Cue dark looks towards Hades.

"and before a fight breaks out I was born before the oath and put in the lotus hotel and casino."

The brothers stopped glaring at each other.

A boy that looked kind of like a latino Santa elf, with a mischievous smirk stepped forward.

"Leo Valdez son of Hephaestus." He smiled at his dad.

Just then a girl stepped forward. She had choppy brown hair and kaleidoscope eyes that seemed to change colour with the light. You could tell that she tried hard to hide her beauty but it didn't work very well.

"Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite."

Aphrodite squealed about how pretty her daughter was, while said daughter looked uncomfortable.

Seeing her discomfort, a boy stepped forward and took her place. He had sandy blonde hair and the same electric blue eyes as Thalia.

"I'm Jason Grace, son of Jupiter."

"What is a roman doing with Greeks?" Athena questioned.

"The future is messed up." Was her answer.

There was a silence until two boys stepped in front of Jason. They looked like identical twins except one was shorter than the other.

"Conner," one said.

"and Travis," the other continued.

"Stoll, sons of Hermes." They said together like they rehearsed it.

Hermes smiled at his sons.

Next a boy with a sharp nose, up turned eyebrows, and a mischievous smile stepped beside the brothers.

"Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes." He said.

Hermes smiled even bigger.

A girl stepped up and took his place. She was big and fierce, and she looked like she could take any one down in a fight.

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares." She said in a husky voice.

Ares looked his daughter over and gave a slight nod.

When she was finished a girl with kind hazel eyes and straight light brown hair took her place.

"Katie Gardener, daughter of Demeter."

"You had a daughter named Gardener?" Apollo asked snickering.

Most people in the room just looked at him weirdly.

To save Apollo from the embarrassing silence, a girl stepped forward. She had deep red frizzy hair that looked like it was on fire in the certain light.

"I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle at Camp Half-Blood."

"WHOOO!" Apollo said as he jumped up from his throne. "My Oracle finally switches bodies!" he screamed excitedly. This made Rachel blush as she turned to join the demigods.

Last but not least a satyr, with curly brown hair stepped into the middle of the room.

"Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild." He said.

"Well that's everyone. Who would like to start reading?" Athena asked.

Obviously the first hand that shot into the air was Annabeth's.

"The first book is called 'The Lightning Thief'" she said before turning to the right page.

"**I Accidently Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher," **she read.


	2. Accidental Vaporize Pre-algebra Teacher

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 2: I Accidently Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher

"**I Accidently Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher,"** she read.

"Are all the chapters going to sound this stupid?" Artemis asked.

"Knowing Percy, probably." Thalia answered.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Who does?" Nico said, while the other demigods nodded.

The gods looked down worriedly at their children. _Could it really be that bad_ they thought.

**If you are reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:**

"STOP! Everyone run Percy's giving advice!" Thalia yelled, while Nico dove under the couch.

Everyone laughed at the cousins antics.

**close this book right now.**

"Not literally, Apollo." Athena rolled her eyes at him.

**Believe whatever lie your mom and dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"That's actually not half bad." Thalia said in deep thought. "The end of the world is really coming!" she exclaimed.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"True." The demigods agreed making their parents pale.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"So do I." Annabeth mumbled, before she started reading again.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they**_** sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"Monsters." Athena said seeing the confused look on Apollo's face.

"Idiot." Artemis said under her breath, before turning her attention back to the book.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"Shut up." Katie said smacking Travis when she saw him open his mouth.

**My name is Percy Jakcson.**

"Noooooooo?" said all the demigods sarcastically.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. **

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"YES!" the demigods screamed.

"He's not that bad." Annabeth defended her boyfriend.

_Why is she defending this boy?_ Athena wondered.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

"See?" Nico said in between laughs "He even agrees with us."

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"That sounds like fun." Annabeth said.

Athena nodded her head agreeing with her daughter,

**I know- it sounds like torture.**

Annabeth and Athena huffed, while everyone else agreed with Percy.

**Most Yancy field trips were.**

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was a middle-aged guy in a motorized wheel chair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.**

"Sounds like Chiron." Hestia said.

The others agreed.

**You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also has this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"Definitely Chiron." Annabeth concluded.

"He fell asleep in class?" Athena said disgusted.

Everyone chose to ignore her.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get I trouble.**

"Ya right," Nico said "When is Percy never in trouble?"

The demigods nodded in agreement, while Poseidon wondered how hard his son's life would be.

**Boy, was I wrong.**

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga Battlefield, I had this accident with this Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyways.**

At this everyone in the throne room was laughing. Some immature guys (*cough Apollo, Hermes, Leo, and the Stolls cough*) were rolling on the floor laughing.

"What do you think he was aiming for?" Apollo asked between laughs.

He got no response, because everyone was too busy laughing.

Once everyone calmed down Annabeth started again.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

Cue more laughter.

**And the time before that…Well, you get the idea.**

"Ahhhhhh, we want to hear more." Apollo, Hermes, Leo, and the Stolls said together.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"Good Luck with that." Thalia said so only Nico could hear.

They looked at each other and both started snickering.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

At this Thalia, Annabeth, and Nico growled.

Aphrodite looked sick as she asked "Who eats peanut butter-and-ketchup?"

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.**

"What a nice best friend I have." Grover sighed as the rest of the demigods were laughing.

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria. **

"What? They were good!" Grover explained, when everyone started laughing at him.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation.**

"Of course you were, seaweed brain." Annabeth mumbled to herself sadly.

**The headmaster had threatened me with death**

"What?" Thalia, Nico, Annabeth and Poseidon said.

**by-in school suspension **

"…oh"

**if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"What if he didn't do it?" Leo asked.

"They probably find some way to pin in on him." Annabeth answered.

"**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Do it, do it, do it!" Ares cheered, making his daughter roll her eyes and scout away from him.

**Grover tried to calm me down.**

"Noooo!" Ares threw his hands up in aggravation.

"**It's** **okay. I like peanut butter."**

"In your hair?" Aphrodite asked, looking sick again.

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"**That's it." I started to get up,**

Ares smiled evilly.

**but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

Ares glared at Grover.

"**Your already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

**Looking back on it, I wish I decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

Poseidon had a worried face on but quickly changed it so no one would get suspicious. No one seemed to notice but Athena. _What's up with him?_ She thought.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Longer then that." Athena corrected, not being able to resist.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a **_**stele**_**, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

"Riiiiiight, a nervous breakdown." Travis said sarcastically, making Poseidon pale.

Hades had a feeling he knew this math teacher, but couldn't figure it out.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"Now Percy, we all know that's Nico here." Thalia said.

"Yeah…wait? HEY!" Nico complained.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

"That sucks." Hermes and the Stolls said.

**One time, after she made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until mid-night, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

Annabeth smacked Grover while Thalia said, "Nice work Goat Boy."

Grover grinned sheepishly.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you **_**shut up**_**?"**

**It came out louder then I meant it to.**

"Of course it did, Seaweed brain." Annabeth sighed sadly, only loud enough for the demigods to hear.

Thalia gently rubbed her back to cheer her up a little.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

"**Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." **

"I would have paid 100 drachmas just to see his face then." Conner said as Travis nodded his head agreeing with his brother.

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?" **

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it.**

"Wow, he actually knew something? It's a miracle!" Thalia exclaimed.

Annabeth, Grover, Nico, and Rachel nodded in agreement.

"**That's** **Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

"It just had to be that one." Demeter said uncomfortable.

Hera and Hestia looked the same way.

"**Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because…" **

"**Well…" I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"GOD!" Zeus finally said after being quiet for so long.

"Calm brother, I'm sure Charon will correct him." Poseidon said scared for his son's life.

Zeus reluctantly calmed down and motioned for Annabeth to continue reading.

"**God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

"See?"

"**Titan," I corrected myself. "And…he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

"**Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"Eeeew, doesn't even begin to explain it mortal." Hera said disgusted. What she didn't notice was all the dirty looks she was getting from the demigods.

"**-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titan's," I continued. "and the gods won." **

"He just turned the biggest war in history into one sentence." Athena said as if it could never be done.

"That's Percy." Nico told her.

**Some snickers from the group.**

"Why are they laughing?" Piper asked. "He got it right?"

No one had an answer.

"What I want to know," Jason stated. "is how you mistake a baby for a rock."

"Well young nephew," Poseidon began. "your father looks like a rock, has a rock hard head, and is as dense as a rock. So it's not that complicated to get him confused with a rock."

Everyone snickered as they watched Zeus glared at Poseidon.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobfit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'."**

"**And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Busted!" the Stolls said together.

"**Busted," Grover muttered.**

"Oh no," Conner started.

"We think like a satyr." Travis finished.

They both looked at each other and grimaced. "Oh the horror!" They hugged each other and acted like they were crying.

The guys in the room started laughing at the boys behaviour, while the girls (and Grover) rolled their eyes.

"**Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red then her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"More like horse's ears." Travis and Conner mumbled. They got into a lot of trouble because of those ears.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged, "I don't know, sir."**

"There's the Percy we all know and tolerate." Thalia told everyone.

"Oh, please Thalia. You know you wouldn't be you without him." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, but I will deny it if anyone asks." She replied.

The gods watched their children amused. All accept one. She was wondering why her daughter defended this demigod.

"**I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, **

"Oh no you don't." Katie said when she saw the look the Stolls had on their faces.

They looked disappointed, as Hermes beamed at his sons.

**who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The Gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" **

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around like doofuses. **

"When are guys not doofuses." Artemis asked.

All the guys in the room shouted "HEY!" while the girls nodded their heads in agreement.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go-intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old had seen everything. **

"Older." Annabeth whispered.

"**You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. **

"**About the Titan's?" **

"**About real life. And how your studies apply to it." **

"**Oh."**

Nico got up and raised his arms in the air. "Ladies and gentlemen. The famous Percy Jackson answer!" he said dramatically.

Travis and Conner applauded, while everyone else either smiled at the act or rolled their eyes.

"**What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

"It's for the best, Seaweed brain." Annabeth said low enough so that only the demigods heard.

Thalia put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave Annabeth a small smile.

The gods couldn't figure out why the demigods all looked so sad, especially Annabeth.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armour and shouted: "What Ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I never made above a C- in my life.**

"What a C-?" Athena said shocked.

They chose to ignore her.

**No-he didn't expect me to be as **_**good**_**; he expected me to be **_**better**_**. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

All the demigods nodded, even Annabeth.

**I mumble something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girls funeral.**

"Probably had." Hestia said softly.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered at the front steps of the museum, were we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. **

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker then I've ever seen over the city. **

"Why are you so mad?" Apollo asked Zeus.

"How am I supposed to know, this is the future." He replied.

**I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. **

"Okay, your really mad." Artemis stated.

**We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

Now everyone was looking at both Poseidon and Zeus.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with lunchable crackers. Nancy Bobofit something from a Lady's purse,**

"Nope." Hermes said seeing the questioning look on everyone's faces.

His sons sighed in relief.

**and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

Nico figured out who Mrs. Dodds was and looked at his father, hoping he would realize.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know that we were from **_**that **_**school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"**Detention?" Grover asked.**

"**Nah," I said. "Not from Mr. Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius." **

"Understatement of a lifetime." Rachel, Thalia, Nico, Grover and Clarisse said as if they rehearsed it.

"He's not that bad." Annabeth said trying to keep a straight face.

Again Athena wondered why she was defending this demigod.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone laughed at the very red satyr.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump into a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this is my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. **

"Wow! That even beats our record." Travis said motioning to him and Conner.

**I wouldn't be able to stand the sad look she'd give me.**

"The boy truly cares for his mother." Hera noticed. The other goddesses nodded.

_Maybe he's different_ Artemis thought.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**

"Wow! I'm so making that when we get back." Leo said excitedly. "After we finish the Argo II." He added seeing Annabeth's glare.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she had gotten tired of stealing from tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

Thalia, Nico and Annabeth growled at this.

"**Oops." She grinned at me with her crocked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if someone sprayed-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Okay, even I can't help that train wreck." Aphrodite said.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper."**

"Well we've seen how well that worked for him." Clarisse snorted.

**But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

_A wave? _The Olympians thought glancing at Poseidon.

**I don't remember touching her, but next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" **

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

"**-the water-"**

"**-like it grabbed her-"**

"Poseidon!" Zeus yelled "YOU BROKE THE OATH!"

"AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO KEPT THIS RETCHED OATH!" Hades joined.

Before Poseidon could answer either of them, Zeus got zapped with lightning and a bone flew out and hit Hades in the head.

Everyone looked over to see Thalia and Nico standing in the middle of the room.

"Poseidon you broke the oath." Thalia wailed mockingly.

"Am I the only one who kept this retched oath?" Nico copied her.

Zeus and Hades sat back onto their thrones and motioned for Annabeth to keep reading, while the demigods and the gods besides Zeus and Hades were trying not to laugh.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

"No duh?" Rachel said rolling her eyes.

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds made sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I done something she'd been waiting for all semester.**

"He probably did." Said Chris.

"**Now, honey-"**

"**I know," I grumbled. "a month erasing workbooks."**

"NO!" Hermes, the Stolls and Chris yelled.

"Rule number 50," Hermes said. "Kids?"

"Never guess your punishment." The Hermes kids chorused.

Everyone stared at the in astonishment.

"There are rules?" Annabeth asked finally getting over the shock.

"Ya." The Stolls said as if it cleared everything up.

Choosing to let it go, Annabeth continued to read.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Told ya." Hermes said proudly.

"**Come with me," Ms. Dodds said.**

"Not good." Poseidon said worried.

"**Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. **_**I**_** pushed her."**

"What a great friend." Hestia commented, making Grover blush.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. **

Hades eyes widened realizing who Mrs. Dodds was. He looked over to Poseidon, _please don't kill me_ he thought.

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. **

"**I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

"**But-"**

"**You-**_**will**_**-stay-here." **

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

"**It's okay, man." I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

"**Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "**_**Now.**_**"**

**Nancy Bobfit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. **

The demigods shivered.

"You do not want to be on the receiving end of that." Nico said.

"It can't be that bad." Ares said "Not like mine." He did it for the demigods, but they didn't seem effected.

"Your right Ares, it's waaaaaay worse." Conner stated with another shiver.

Poseidon smiled proudly.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently for me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece out of the universe and left me staring at a blank place behind it. The school counselor told me it was a part of my ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

"I'm not so sure about that." Poseidon said worriedly.

**I wasn't so sure.**

Everyone laughed at the similarities between father and son.

Poseidon smiled at his sons thoughts.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"Oh great, my sons life in danger and your reading." Poseidon mumbled.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside that building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"I have a feeling that's not the plan." Katie reasoned.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Great no witnesses." Poseidon said sarcastically.

Ares leaned forward in his throne suddenly interested.

**Mrs. Doods stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, lie growling.**

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Ms. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…**

Most of the gods looked offended.

"**You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

"Wait she's still going with the honey thing." Apollo asked.

They just shrugged in reply and turned back to the book.

**I did the safe thing.**

"Wo, wo, wo, wait. Repeat that please." Nico asked.

Annabeth repeated the line.

"Well that's doesn't sound right. When does Percy ever do the safe thing?" Nico asked.

The demigods nodded their heads in agreement.

_What has my son done for them to say that?_ Poseidon asked himself while paling.

**I said, "Yes ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you'd get away with it?"**

"Get away what?" Artemis asked confused.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

Poseidon paled at that, and Hades shrunk down in his seat.

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. **

"Think again, Kelp head." Thalia said annoyed. Only Annabeth noticed the little hint of worry in her voice.

**I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building. **

Cue looks at Zeus.

"**We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess and you will suffer less pain." **

"Less pain." Poseidon squeaked.

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

"Neither do we." Athena stated.

Poseidon gasped. "Athena, not knowing something."

"Shut up." She snapped.

**All** **I could think of was the teachers must of found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. **

"You know what, I like your kid Poseidon." Hermes stated.

**Or maybe they realized I got my essay on **_**Tom Sawyer **_**from the internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"How is that worse?" Athena complained.

Nobody answered.

"**Well?" she demanded.**

"**Ma'am, I don't…"**

"**Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened.**

"It can get weirder." Mr.D asked.

"Your alive!" Apollo yelled pretending to be shocked.

Everyone just rolled their eyes.

**Her eyes began to glow like barbeque coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"YOU SENT A FURY AFTER MY SON!" Poseidon yelled at Hades.

He lunged over and started beating him up. It took all the gods except for Mr.D to pull them apart.

**Then things got even stranger.**

"They can get stranger?" Apollo asked still pinning Poseidon to his throne.

**Mr. Brunner, who had been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"**What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

"What's a pen going to do?" Ares asked.

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

"COOL!" Leo yelled.

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

"Wimp." Ares muttered.

He got doused with 10 gallons of salt water.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

"Still with the honey thing. Is she ever gonna let it drop." Apollo asked.

**And she flew straight at me.**

Poseidon started hyperventilating.

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she was made of water. **_**Hisss!**_

There was absolute silence. Then….

"That was totally awesome!" Leo cheered. And the room burst into cheers.

"His first monster was a fury, and he beat it with one swing?" Jason asked surprised.

Poseidon beamed at his son.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan.**

"That's an interesting way to put it." Demeter pointed out.

**She exploded into yellow power, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screeched and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

Everyone but Hades and Nico shivered.

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"He's still letting the mist affect him." Demeter asked.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" Rachel asked.

**I said, "Who?"**

Rachel blushed as red as her hair, as everyone laughed.

"**Our** _**teacher,**_** Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"Grover, Grover, Grover," Hermes sighed disappointed. "Someone please teach him to lie."

"Already writing it down dad." Conner said as Travis wrote in a note book.

"**Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

Cue looks at Zeus.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

"**Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"**The other chaperon. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?"**

"Now Chiron can lie." Hermes approved.

"Well, that's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" Annabeth asked.

"I will." Nico said grabbing the book from her.

"**Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks of Death," **he read.


	3. Three Old Ladues Knit the Socks of Death

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 3: Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death

"**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death,"** he read.

Poseidon paled, while Athena tried to figure it out.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, **

"Really?" Leo asked.

**but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were, completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blonde woman whom I never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"That must have been really confusing." Artemis noticed.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds** **reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"You are psyho." Nico, Annabeth and Thalia told the book.

The demigods smiled at what they said.

**It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

"I say 20 drachmas it's Grover." Apollo said to Hermes.

Hermes nodded taking the bet, while Grover blushed.

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

Apollo became 20 drachmas richer, and everyone laughed at the very red satyr.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

Hermes shook his head at Grover's poor lying.

**Something was going on. Something **_**had**_** happened at the museum.**

"No duh, you killed a fury." Jason said while he rolled his eyes.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

The demigods shivered.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room.**

Poseidon sent a dark look toward the Lord of the Sky.

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

Everyone was looking at Zeus weirdly. He just shrugged and told Nico to continue reading.

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in the sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

Everyone looked at two of the big three brothers. "What are you two fighting about now?" Hera asked rolling her eyes. They just shrugged.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Athena gave a frightened gasp. Nico just continued.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobfit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot.**

Athena and Annabeth snickered.

When they noticed everyone giving them questioning looks, Annabeth said, "It means old drunk."

Everyone joined the snickering.

**I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

"Paul doesn't seem like much of a gambler to me." Nico pointed out.

"This was before Paul." Grover said.

**And yet…there were things I missed at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,**

Grover smiled at this.

**even if he was a little strange.**

Everyone laughed at the satyrs frown.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

Hestia smiled at this Hero's heart.

**I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunners crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me.**

"Good job, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth complemented.

Athena wondered why her daughter had a nickname for this sea spawn. _They can't be that close, could they?_ She thought.

**I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology **_**across my dorm room.**

"How could he?!" Athena gasped.

"I know right!" said Hermes in mock-horror. Everyone started cracking up until all the guys but Mr.D, Hephaestus, and the big three were on the floor. When they finally got through laughing, Nico started reading again.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, **

"Well he does now." Annabeth stated.

Nico nodded in agreement, making Poseidon pale.

**or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

Conner and Travis winced at hearing this making Katie move away from them.

**I remembered Mr. Brunners serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**_

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before.**

"Explains your grades." Athena mumbled to herself.

**Maybe if I talk to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was going to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

The goddesses cooed.

**I walked down stairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty. But Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "…worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

"Cue eavesdropping Percy." Nico interrupted himself.

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

The demigods snorted.

"Ya right." Said Grover.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"True." Rachel said thoughtfully.

**I inched closer.**

"…**alone this summer." Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school! **_**Now that we know for sure, and **_**they**_** know too-"**

"**We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"Well that hasn't happened yet." Thalia said.

"**Nut he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"**

"What's the summer solstice deadline?" Artemis asked.

No one answered.

"**Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"**Sir, he **_**saw **_**her…."**

"And defeated her." Katie pointed out.

"**His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that." **

"**Sir, I…I can't fail in my duties again." Grovers voice was chocked with emotion.**

"You still on about that." Thalia asked him.

"Not anymore." he assured her.

_Wait…_ Zeus thought. "You're the satyr that got my daughter killed!" Zeus yelled.

"DAD!" Thalia yelled so loud it would put Zeus to shame. "It was my choice not his, mine. So sit down and shut up!"

Everyone was frozen in shock as they watched this. Nico figured it would be best to continue reading.

"**You know what that would mean."**

"**You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

"Wow that must have freaked him out." Apollo said.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"No!" Hermes screamed. "Rule number 4!"

"Never give away your position." The Hermes kids sang.

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slide across the lighted glass of Mr. Brunner's office door, the shadow of something of much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

"Good." Hermes said. "Rule number 70."

"Always retreat when you think you might get caught."

"How many rules are there?" Piper asked.

"500."

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop, **_**like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"What happened at the winter solstice?" Artemis asked.

Again she was meet with silence. She sat back in her throne and huffed.

"**Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn…" **

"**Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow." **

"**Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

"Good. Rule number 9."

"Wait, until you know the coast is clear."

"Will you stop that?" Aphrodite snapped.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"**Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

"**You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

"**Just…tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression,**

"Won't work satyr can read emotions."

Everyone turned to find the cover of a wine magazine.

**and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I imagined the whole thing. **

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of trouble.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"What?!" All the guys in the room screamed. "That's torture."

The girls rolled their eyes.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night befor, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

"**Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's…it's for the best."**

"He's going to take that wrong." Annabeth said sadly.

Thalia put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me.**

"See."

Athena was wondering why her daughter knew so much about the sea spawn.

**Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

Annabeth stiffened.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

"**I mean…" Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

Poseidon frowned.

**My eyes stung.**

"Wimp." Ares said. He got doused in salt water.

**Here was my favourite teacher, in front of class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

Poseidon kept frowning.

"**Right," I said, trembling.**

"**No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say…you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

"**Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, for reminding me."**

"**Percy-"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. **

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich**_** juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities.**

"Hmm, sounds like someone we know." Jason said. "Huh, Leo."

"Ya." Leo said.

Piper hit both of them.

**I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"Nobodies, huh?" Poseidon smiled.

"Maybe his father, but definitely not his uncle." Zeus said. Hades nodded in agreement.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

"**Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

Everyone frowned at that.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"Coincidence, I think not." Travis and Conner said together earning a slap from Katie.

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound. **

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"Wow, Perce you probably gave him a heart attack." Thalia teased.

"You have no idea." Grover mumbled.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?" **

"Oh, only all of it." Grover said.

"**Oh…not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

"That's what I want to know." Artemis interrupted.

**He winced. "Look, Percy…I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…"**

"**Grover-"**

"**And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds and…"**

"Grover, you're a really bad liar." Travis said.

"That's why we're giving you lessons." Conner said happily.

Grover paled.

"**Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

"See your best friend even agrees with us."

"Thanks Perce," Grover said sarcastically.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script, which is murder on my dyslexic eyes,**

"Why are they in fancy script if they're dyslexic?" Athena asked Mr.D.

"It's fun to see them struggle." He replied.

Everyone looked at him disgusted.

**but I final made out something like:**

**Grover Underwood**

**Keeper**

**Half-Blood Hill**

**Long Island, New York**

**(800) 009-0009**

"**What's Half-"**

"**Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um…summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered his family would be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"**Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or…or if you need me."**

"**Why would need you?"**

"That doesn't sound like Percy." Rachel said.

The demigods nodded, while Piper, Leo, and Jason looked confused, surly he has slipped up once or twice?

**It came out harsher then I meant it to.**

"At least he's sorry." Hestia said kindly.

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, I-I kind of have to protect you." **

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten into fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying he would get beat up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me.**_

"**Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

"Oh no one much," Thalia said sarcastically. "Just two crazy uncles and about every monster in the world."

Poseidon paled, wondering if his son really did have it that bad.

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

Aphrodite and Piper scrunched their noses in disgust.

**The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. **

**After a few minutes clanking around the engine compartment, the driver announced we'll all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everyone else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars.**

Rachel, Grover, and Artemis growled at that.

**On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I ever seen.**

"The Fates." Athena gasped.

"HE SAW THE FATES?!" Poseidon felt like he was going to burst.

Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico looked worriedly at Grover, who just shook his head as to say don't worry.

**I mean the socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

Poseidon started hyperventilating.

**All three woman looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleach cotton dresses.**

"Yup definitely the Fates." Athena stated.

"Thank you for that amazing piece of information, Bird Brain." Poseidon spat at her.

She grumbled, but turned her attention back toward the book.

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Annabeth started to pale, and Thalia and Nico didn't look to good either.

Were as Poseidon was so white he could put Hades to shame.

**I looked at Grover to say something about this and saw the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. **

"**Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

"**Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

"**Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Under a different situation that would have been funny." Travis stated.

His brother nodded in agreement.

"**Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." **

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

"**We're getting on the bus," he told me.**

"Yes please do that." Poseidon begged.

"**Come on."**

"**What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

"Seaweed Brain." Annabeth groaned.

"**Come on!" he pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back."**

"Of course you did." Thalia moaned.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle on cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip **_**across four lanes of traffic. **

Nico's voice failed and everyone sat there in silence for what felt like forever. Finally Athena spoke up. "How is he still alive?"

"He is still alive, right?" Poseidon asked to be reassured. The demigods nodded.

All of a sudden Annabeth gasped. She leaned into the group of demigods on the floor and said low enough that only they could hear. "It wasn't Percy's string," she explained. "It was Luke's." Some of the demigods sighed in relief as they turned back to the gods.

The gods looked at the demigods questionley. The demigods just shook their heads.

**Her two friend balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"So not the time." Travis said, shaking his head.

Katie held her hand against his forehead. "Well he's not sick, so I don't know what's wrong with him." She stated her findings.

Besides the tension everyone laughed at Travis.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

"**Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board."**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

"Not good." Apollo said.

Poseidon paled even more.

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

"**Grover?"**

"**Yeah?"**

"**What are you not telling me?"**

"Everything." The demigods stated.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

"**You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like…Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"No Percy, they're way worse." Annabeth sighed.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds.**

Annabeth blushed slightly, while the demigods snickered.

**He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

"**The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

"**Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

"**This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I do't want this to be like the last time."**

"I get it." Grover said seeing Thalia's glare.

"**What last time." **

"**Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"Are you trying to freak him out?" Rachel asked Grover.

"**Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

"**Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"Some promise that turned out to be." Grover said under his breath.

"**Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

"I hate when that happens." Leo said.

Travis, Conner and Nico nodded.

"**Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to dye?"**

"Wow, he's very insightful." Athena commented.

The demigods burst out laughing.

"Percy's anything but insightful. It took him forever to notice the most obvious things." Thalia said, as all the demigods took a quick glance at Annabeth, who was turning a little pink. Thankfully the gods didn't notice.

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I like best on my coffin. **

"Flowers? He's not getting anything that special. He's getting a bunch of seaweed." Thalia stated.

The demigods laughed.

"Well that's it. Who wants to read?" Nico asked.

"I will." Zeus said snatching the book before anyone else could.

"**Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants," **Zeus read.


	4. Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 4: Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants

"**Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants," **Zeus read.

Everyone laughed at the very read satyr.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

The girls rolled their eyes.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

"I would've ditched him too." Nico said.

Most of the demigods nodded.

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

"**East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

"You realize he doesn't live there anymore." Annabeth told the Stolls, seeing the smile on their faces. They frowned.

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"Amazing," Annabeth said.

"Special," Thalia added.

"Kind," Rachel continued.

"Best cook ever." Nico ended.

"That's three words." Thalia stated.

"Three very true words." Nico retorted.

Poseidon smiled at the demigod's compliments.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, **

The demigods and Poseidon agreed.

**which proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

Poseidon frowned, while the demigods nodded sadly.

"He's right, just look at him as an example." Rachel said as Annabeth looked down.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five,**

"Jerk!" Aphrodite shouted as she threw her high heels at Zeus' head. For the goddess of love, she had excellent aim. The shoes hit Zeus right in the forehead.

"OWWWW! What was that for?!"

"Killing her parents." she shouted back.

**and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

Athena frowned. Everyone deserved to have an education.

"Why didn't you help her, Poseidon?" Aphrodite asked, and the other goddesses nodded.

"She wouldn't let me." Poseidon said sadly.

The demigods nodded knowing Sally.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

The girls cooed, while Poseidon blushed.

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of a smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad.**

The gods looked at Poseidon shocked. "How?" Apollo asked in wonder.

Poseidon just ignored the guys.

**She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"That was not a lie, in a lie, in another lie. Wow she's good Uncle P." Hermes said.

Poseidon smiled.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

"Understatement." Thalia coughed.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colours as a world-class jerk. **

Poseidon frowned.

**When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

The girls looked sick, while the immature guys pretended to barf.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along…**

"The woman is truly remarkable." Artemis said.

The Goddesses agreed.

**well, when I came home was a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

The girls wrinkled their noses.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

"**Where's my mom?"**

"**Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"What he asked him for cash? No welcome back, good to see you, or how's your life been the last six months." Jason asked.

**That was it. No **_**Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**_

Everyone laughed at the very red demigod.

Nico turned to Jason. "I'm sorry but it looks like we lost you to the percycitis." He said sadly.

Thalia caught on and said, "I'm sorry brother. It was nice knowing you."

Everyone laughed harder at the children of the big three.

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

Aphrodite looked like she going to faint. "Even I couldn't fix that."

Everyone agreed.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. **

"Of course." Artemis grumbled. Even by boy standards this man was terrible.

**Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"WHAT!" Poseidon screamed, about to flash out.

"Please brother." Hestia ran forward. "Violence is not the answer."

"She's right, as much as I want this man beaten to a pulp, you can't." Demeter cut in.

"Here. At the end of this book, if the man is not taken care, of you can go and no one will stop you." Zeus told his brother.

Poseidon calmed down.

"**I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

Cue gagging.

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

_Hmm…_Athena thought.

"**You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"At least someone there is semi-decent." Hera said.

Everyone looked at her shocked.

"What?"

They turned their attention back to the book.

"**Am I **_**right**_**?" Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

"Never mind." Hera said.

"**Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"**Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty."**

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "Study."**

"Ya, like that waste of air needs a study." Athena huffed.

**He didn't study anything in their except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like is nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

Everyone looked sad for this demigod.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

"Got to love Percy's sarcasm." Nico said.

The demigods smiled sadly. His sarcasm is one of the things they miss most.

**Gabe's smell was almost worst then the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of the old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

"Now I truly feel sorry for this boy. If that smell is worse than nightmares and the fates, I don't even want to think about how bad it would have to be." Artemis said.

Many nodded.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remember Grover's look of panic-how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. **

Grover huffed.

"What did you do when you saw he wasn't there?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh just about went crazy looking for him." Grover snapped.

**A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone-something-was looking for me right now,**

"Ya, me!" Grover huffed.

Everyone just rolled their eyes.

"Will you stop interrupting me." Zeus said, then continued.

**maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

"Awww." Aphrodite cooed.

"Mama's boy." Ares snickered and got splash with sea water.

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change colour in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. **

Poseidon smiled at the description of Sally.

**When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

"There's not much bad to look at."Annabeth said low but the Olympians heard.

The demigods all nodded then looked sad again.

"What's wrong." Athena asked. "Every time Percy gets complimented, or something happens you guys all look sad."

The demigods just shook their heads, leaving the gods to wonder what happened to Percy, Poseidon worriedly.

**I never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"The woman is a miracle worker if she can do that." Artemis stated.

"**Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff sold in the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

By the end of the paragraph the boy's mouths were watering.

"When we having dinner?" Apollo asked.

"Well it's getting late so after this chapter." Athena suggested.

Everybody nodded enthusiastically.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing alright?**

The girls cooed again, while the guy demigods wished they could eat.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"The boy truly cares for his mother." Hera noticed.

The goddesses nodded while they demigods smiled.

"You don't know the half of it." Thalia said. But then smiled, "She's like a second mother to all of us." She added.

The demigods nodded and Poseidon smiled about how everyone thought so highly of Sally.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"**

**I gritted my teeth.**

So did everyone in the throne room.

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"How about a God?" Persephone asked making everyone jump.

"Wow, Persephone we've read three chapters and you haven't made a sound." Hermes said "I so want you on my next prank."

Persephone just shrugged.

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't to down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started chocking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner.**

"What a coincidence." Leo said. He earned a slap from Piper.

**Even Nancy Bobofit didn't seem so bad.**

**Until that trip to the museum…**

"**What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

"**No, Mom."**

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"No it wouldn't." Annabeth said "She's clear sighted."

Athena wondered why her daughter knew so much about the sea spawns mom. _Everyone said they were close to Sally_ she assured herself.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

"**I have a surprise for you," she said. "Were going to the beach."**

"That'll get him excited." Clarisse stated.

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

"**Three nights-same cabin."**

"**When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

Poseidon looked down right murderous, and Artemis looked mad.

_No one should treat anyone like that _she thought.

**I wanted to punch him,**

"Do it!" Everyone screamed.

**but I meet my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she's ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"**I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip." **

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?" **

"**I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"He better." Poseidon said through his teeth, still looking murderous.

"**Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step-father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added. "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour Cream. The works." **

"Amazing lying and bribery. Man Uncle P, you sure know how to pick them." Hermes sighed.

Artemis slapped him.

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip…it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

"WHAT?!" Aphrodite screamed. "You can't put a budget on clothes, none of the less take money away from it! Poseidon I'm coming with you when you go to beat up this guy."

"**Yes, honey," my mother said. **

"**And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

"**We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip…and maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"He funded your poker game, moron." Thalia screamed.

**Maybe if I kick your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

"Do it!" Everyone screamed again.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy?**

Athena gasped loudly, figuring out why Sally was married to Gabe. _She's an extremely remarkable woman_ she thought to herself.

"What is it Athena?" Zeus asked.

"Nothing father. I'm sure you will find out soon." She answered not wanting to give away the book.

**I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

"**I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"If he doesn't pick it up, then he has no brain." Travis pointed out.

The others agreed.

"**Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

"Wow."

**He went back to his game.**

"**Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about…whatever you forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes-the same fear I'd seen in Grover on the bus ride-as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smiled returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camaro-for the whole weekend.**

"More important. You know what, I'm coming with you guys." Artemis huffed. She liked Sally.

Poseidon smiled at the number of volunteers.

"**Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"Like he would be driving, that disgusting pig." Nico said.

"Nico, don't insult pigs. What have they ever done to you to get compared to that?" Thalia asked.

Everyone laughed to the point where Apollo, Hermes, Leo, the Stolls, Nico and Thalia were rolling on the floor.

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve.**

**But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

"Jerk." The girls murmured.

**Watching him lumber back to the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain.**

"The first of many." Thalia told the room.

The demigods all nodded, while Poseidon was wondering what his son could have done for people to act this way.

**As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it wacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

"He can't be that powerful, can he?" Athena said.

"Percy is that powerful." Annabeth stated.

"Ya," Thalia agreed. "Even more powerful then me."

The gods looked shocked, while Poseidon looked smug.

_Maybe too powerful…_Zeus thought.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges,**

"Ya, I'm sure that was it." Travis said sarcastically.

**but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets,**

Athena and Annabeth shivered.

**and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

**I loved the place.**

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place were she meet my dad.**

Poseidon smiled at the memories of the summer in Montauk, while Aphrodite cooed.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the colour of the sea.**

Now all the girls cooed.

**We got there at sunset, opened al the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"What's with all the blue food? That's my colour." Zeus interrupted himself.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"That would be nice." Zeus mumbled.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano-**

"Understandable, what kind of name is that?" Artemis asked.

Everyone nodded.

**was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"Ha" Nico laughed. "She might have a rebellious streak, nut the only streak you have is an obedient one."

Thalia nodded her head agreeing.

"Come on guys, think about how many times he saved your lives because of that." Annabeth defended thinking about the time Percy left camp without permission to save her. Her eyes became watery.

The Gods started to worry when all the demigods nodded their heads, while Athena wondered why her daughter would defend the sea spawn.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash.**

Cue angry looks at Zeus.

**She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she got enough money to quit the candy shop.**

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk-my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

The goddesses smiled.

"**He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too.**

"Tall, yeah, powerful, I guess, but handsome and gentle, please." Athena mocked. She got doused in salt water.

Before she could start screaming, Zeus continued.

**You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

The people who haven't meet Percy turned to Poseidon trying to figure out what he looked like.

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me?**

_A lot…_Annabeth thought sadly.

**A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for six times in six years.**

_I am proud Percy! _Poseidon thought to himself.

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

"**But…he knew me as a baby."**

"**No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember…something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

Poseidon was thinking about the time he went to go see Percy in his crib.

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me…**

**I felt angry at my father. **

Poseidon frowned.

**Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

Poseidon looked down.

Annabeth noticed and said, "He doesn't feel that way anymore, Lord Poseidon."

It helped a little.

"**Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

"**I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think…I think we'll have to do something."**

"**Because you don't want me around."**

"Uggh, Percy." Annabeth sighed, while the goddesses looked mad. Especially Hera.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"At least he regrets it." Hestia said kindly.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I **_**have **_**to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that id was best for me to leave Yancy.**

"**Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"Not such a bad thing, cuz. You get used to it." Thalia stated.

"**You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

"**Safe from what?" **

_Everything _the demigods thought.

**She meet my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that ever happened to me, some of which I tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"What was a Cyclops doing following him?" Demeter asked.

"I was probably keeping an eye on him." Poseidon answered.

**Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidently put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands. **

"Wow!" Jason said shocked. "Just like Hercules." Piper and Leo nodded.

Thalia didn't like the idea of Percy being compared to him, but they didn't know.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling that the new would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

Athena rolled her eyes. _He's going to get the both killed_ she thought.

"**I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only on other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just…I just can't stand to do it."**

"**My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

"**Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"Camp Half-Blood!" The demigods cheered.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born-talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

"**I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

"**For good? But if it's only a summer camp…"**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her more questions she would start to cry.**

_He really knows his mom well_ Hera thought.

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

The demigods groaned his dreams were the worst.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse**

"Me." Poseidon stated.

**and a golden eagle,**

"Me." Zeus added.

**were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"What else is new." Hera rolled her eyes.

**The eagle swopped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

The gods all looked to Hades who shrugged, while the demigods looked down knowing it was not him.

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horses wide eyes, and I screamed, **_**No!**_

"Ha. I won!" Zeus shouted jumping up from his throne.

Poseidon rolled his eyes.

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

Everyone looked at Zeus and Poseidon.

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

"Ya, Uncle P. Why have you forgotten?" Hermes and Apollo asked together.

Everyone rolled their eyes at them, while they got slapped by Artemis.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her night gown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't…he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"What was he?" Travis asked and got slapped by Katie.

"**Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

"**Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

"What were you seeing?" Leo asked.

"_**O Zeu kai alloi theoi!"**_** he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you **_**tell **_**her?"**

"I'm pretty sure they just established that he didn't." Annabeth told Grover.

"I was mad and scared." He responded.

**I was too shocked to registered that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on-and where his legs should be…where his legs should be…**

"Come on spit it out." Hermes shouted earning a sap from Artemis. Ares smiled seeing the violence.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "**_**Percy.**_** Tell me **_**now**_**!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies and the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom starred at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Bothe of you. **_**Go**_**!"**

"Wow she knows how to handle a crisis." Athena noticed.

Many nodded.

**Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly he story about his muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked. **

**Because were his feet should be, there was no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"Well that's it." Zeus said. "Let's get some dinner."

But before anyone moved a bright light started in the middle of the room.


	5. The New Guest

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 5: The New Guest

But before anyone moved a bright light started in the middle of the room.

It rose like it did the first time and touched the ceiling. Remembering what happened the first time, Athena waved her hand and a couch appeared between the gods and demigods. Sure enough a scream came from the light and a figure fell to the couch.

He was a tall muscular teenager who would have made any girl swoon over him. In fact the goddesses (except for Hera) were all blushing, even Artemis had a faint pink tint on her cheeks. Aphrodite actually looked like she was going to faint.

He got up from the couch recovering from his fall. He stood up suddenly, seeming to figure out where he was. As he got up the goddesses cheeks seemed to get pinker. He had perfect raven-black hair, that was messy but in just the right way. He also had beautiful sea green eyes that seemed older then he was, as if he'd seen things no teenager should ever see.

The demigods who seemed frozen when they first saw him yelled simultaneously, "PERCY!"

They all ran to him. He gave a dazzling smile and ran to meet them. He was expecting a hug but before he could, he got slapped five times.

"Ow!" He yelled "What was that for?"

"Where have you been." Annabeth yelled.

"We've been looking for you for 8 months!" Thalia screamed with lightning in her eyes.

Before a fight broke out Nico stepped between Percy and the others. "Guys he had his memory wiped and was stuffed in a Roman camp give him a break."

"Thank you Nico." Percy said.

"Wait a minute. What's do you mean wiped of your memories and stuffed in a Roman camp." Poseidon asked.

Percy opened his mouth to answer, but got cut off by Annabeth. "Before you say anything, you should know that we traveled back in time," She hesitated "to read books about you."

"What?" Percy said shocked, but then smiled. He missed Annabeth the most, and it felt good to hear her voice again. He wanted to run and kiss her but he understood that the gods didn't know about them yet. Instead he went and tackled all his friends in one huge hug, which they graciously accepted.

Piper, Jason, and Leo stood to the side a little uncomfortably. When Percy saw them he released his friends and walked over to them. "Hi, I'm Percy." He said holding out his hand. Leo took it, "Leo, son of Hephaestus." He said then stepped back and Piper took his place. "Piper, daughter of Aphrodite." When she stepped back Percy noticed Jason. "You must be the famous Jason Grace everyone at Camp Jupiter talks about." He held out his hand. Jason gratefully took it.

"So, let's get started." He said.

"We were just about to have dinner, then we'll read a chapter before bed." Athena said.

Everyone nodded and headed out of the throne room. The goddesses cheeks still pink.


	6. My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 6: My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting

When everyone was finished eating they all gathered in the throne room.

"I believe I will read." Athena said. She took the book from Zeus and turned to the right page.

"**My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting," **Athena read.

Percy and Grover winced at the memory.

Annabeth, seeing Percy's discomfort, wanted to badly snuggle up to him and feel his arms around her, but she stopped herself knowing the riot it will cause.

**We tore up the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

"My kind of driving." Ares said.

"Ya, and that's why your bike is always in my forges." Hephaestus spoke up.

"And why your always in my infirmary." Apollo added.

Everyone laughed at the expression on Ares face, while Aphrodite shook her head disapprovingly.

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

"Really Percy? Shag carpet pants?" Thalia asked laughing with Nico.

Percy smiled at them, making the goddesses blush again.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo-lanolin, like from wool. The smell of wet barnyard animal.**

Everyone laughed at Percy's thoughts, and Grover huffed.

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom…know each other?"**

"Really Perce?" Nico said as he and Thalia started laughing again.

Percy rolled his eyes, then smiled again. "I missed messing with you guys." He stated

"Awwwww," they tackled him in another hug. "We missed bugging you too."

The big three looked at their children all getting along. They couldn't believe it, they seriously needed to talk to their kids. Hades couldn't believe that his son was so accepted not only by the demigods but by his brother's children?

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never meet in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"Stalker much Grover?" Hermes chuckled.

Grover turned very red.

"**Watching me?"**

"**Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I **_**am**_** your friend."**

"**Um…what **_**are **_**you, exactly?"**

"**That doesn't matter right now."**

"**It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey-"**

"I can totally see it." Conner exclaimed dramatically "Grover the donkey-ow."

Rachel smiled.

"Dude you do not want to push it. She gets scary." Percy said and shivered.

Rachel's smile became wider.

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty "**_**Blaa-ha-ha!**_**"**

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

"**Goat!" he cried.**

"**What?"**

"**I'm a **_**goat **_**from the waist down."**

"You just said it didn't matter." Thalia told Grover. He and Percy burst out laughing.

"What?" she asked annoyed.

Percy motioned for Athena to keep reading.

"**You just said it didn't matter."**

Now everyone was laughing at Thalia.

"You think like me, huh Thals." Percy joked.

"I'm going to blame that on the fact that our dads are brothers."

"_**Blaa-ha-ha! **_**There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"**

"**Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like…Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

"Wow, Percy you are slow." Rachel said in surprise. "And I thought you were slow now."

Percy rolled his eyes then smiled.

"And I thought after eight months you would finally stop drawing on your pants. I guess we were both wrong."

"Oooooo, BURN!" the Stolls and Leo yelled, while Rachel started blushing.

"**Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a **_**myth**_**, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?**

"**So you **_**admit **_**there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"So not the point, Perce." Nico said shaking his head.

"I thought I was going crazy!" Percy exclaimed.

"**Of course."**

"**Then why-"**

"It was for your own good Seaweed Brain." Anabeth said loudly enough for only Percy to hear. He took her hand behind their backs and she smiled.

Athena was the only one who noticed the smile toward Percy and wondered what was going on between those two.

"**The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We'd hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

"To be fair, that is a lot to take in." Rachel noticed.

"Ya, it is a lot to take in." Katie agreed.

"**Who I-wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again from somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

Poseidon looked at his son worriedly. Then he noticed he didn't answer the question he asked earlier.

"Percy? What did you mean by, whipped of your memories and stuffed into a Roman camp." Poseidon asked his son.

Percy looked uneasy. "I don't want to explain it dad. Just know that I'm okay."

Poseidon didn't really like that answer but he let it go for Percy's sake.

"**Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

"**Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

_Everyone_ the demigods thought.

"**Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

"Grover!" everyone exclaimed, while Poseidon was glaring at Hades.

"**Grover!"**

"**Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

"Yes faster would be nice." Poseidon said scared for his son's life.

Percy smiled reassuringly at his dad.

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination.**

"Ya I think we learned that when you thought you ate magic mushrooms." Athena said rolling her eyes.

**I could never dream up something this weird. **

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farm houses and wooded hills and **PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRY **signs on white picket fences.**

"They're almost there." Piper said recognizing the signs.

Poseidon started praying that they would make it, until realized he there was no one to pray to.

"**Where are we going?" I asked.**

"**The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

"Camp Half-Blood!" the demigods cheered. They loved camp, it was their home. Percy really missed the place.

"**The place you didn't want me to go."**

"Come on couldn't you see it was already hard for her." Hera asked. Percy looked down sadly.

"**Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

"**Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds stupid." Leo said.

All the guys nodded, while the girls rolled their eyes at them.

"**Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means-the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to…when someone's about to die."**

"Nice slip up, Goat Boy." Thalia snorted.

Grover started to turn red.

"**Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

"**No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

"**You meant 'you.' As in **_**me.**_**"**

"**I meant **_**you**_**, like 'someone.' Not you, **_**you**_**."**

"Did anyone else find that confusing?" Leo asked.

The boys all nodded.

"**Boys!" my mom said.**

"Thank you." Artemis said.

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of the figure she'd swerved to avoid-a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

"**What was that?" I asked.**

"**We're almost there," my mom said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

"Please. Please. Please." Poseidon chanted.

**I didn't know where **_**there**_** was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

So was most of the room.

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness-the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. **

Everyone but Hades and Nico shivered.

**My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really **_**hadn't **_**been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

Poseidon paled.

**Then I thought of Mr. Brunner…and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling **_**boom!, **_**and our car exploded.**

"Exploded?" Poseidon squeaked.

Percy smiled sheepishly.

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

"**Percy!" my mom shouted.**

"**I'm okay…."**

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead.**

"That's a good thing." Annabeth said. The demigods nodded.

**The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning.**

Before anyone could react Poseidon lunged at Zeus. They fell of the floor and ended up behind it.

Apollo, Hermes, Ares and Hades had to break the brothers apart, but that didn't stop the shock Zeus got.

"Thalia!" Zeus shouted shocked.

"You deserve it." Thalia shouted back.

Before more arguing could start, Athena continued reading.

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road.**

The guys were having a tough time holding down Poseidon. Hephaestus and Dionysus had to step in.

**Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

"Thank you!" Grover said.

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you-re my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

"Thanks." Grover said sarcastically as everyone laughed.

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

Everyone laughed harder.

"Wait, he said food and that gave you hope." Jason asked. It just made Percy, Annabeth, Nico and Thalia laugh harder.

When everyone calmed down Athena continued.

"**Percy," my mother said, "we have to…." Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder on the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

Athena gasped. "You fought the minotaur?"

Percy just kept a straight face. Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Grover and Rachel rolled their eyes.

"He's an amazing fighter." Annabeth said.

"Ya, and he can do a lot of damage." Nico said remembering the fight at the Styx.

"Especially when he has riptide." Rachel said giving Percy a dirty look. He sunk down in his seat.

**I swallowed hard. "Who is-"**

"**Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I look up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

"**Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy-you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

Everyone took a glance at Thalia, who shook it off.

"_**What?"**_

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

"There's me." Thalia said sadly.

Piper, Jason, and Leo had pity in their eyes but also curiosity.

"Don't worry Thals, you help even as a tree." Percy smiled at her. She couldn't help but smile back she really missed bugging him.

"Ya, I'm pretty sure even as a tree I was ten times better then you." She got splashed with water. "PERCY!"

"**That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door." **

"**Mom, you're coming too."**

"She can't," Athena said realizing the fact.

Poseidon started hyperventilating, as everyone understood what was going on.

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. **

"**No!" I shouted. "You **_**are **_**coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

"You are very loyal young hero." Hestia smiled. The Gods all agreed.

Percy smiled back.

"**Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he **_**couldn't **_**be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands-huge meaty hands-were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head…was his head. And the points that looked like horns…**

"**He doesn't want **_**us**_**," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

"**But…"**

"**We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

"Yes go." Poseidon told him.

No one bothered telling him he was talking to a book.

**I got mad, then-mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns lumbering towards us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"Uh oh. The monster is going to get it." Travis said.

The gods looked confused.

"The first rule at camp: Never get Percy mad. It's not pretty." Thalia said seeing these looks.

Percy smirked evilly, while the gods looked surprise.

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "Were going together. Come on, Mom."**

"**I told you-"**

"**Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

"He's extremely loyal." Artemis said.

The demigods nodded.

_Maybe too loyal…_Athena thought.

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

"You should really cut that grass." Demeter said to Dionysus and her daughters nodded.

The demigods gave Katie a weird look, and she blushed, while the gods looked at Persephone, as she did the same.

After a while Athena started to read again.

**Glancing back, I got my first good look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of **_**Muscle Man **_**magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear-**

The girls wrinkled their noses, while the boys were laughing. The more immature ones, Leo, the Stolls, Hermes, Apollo, and Nico, were on the floor.

**I mean, bright white Fruit of Looms-**

"Wow, who knew monsters bought regular brand names." Apollo said.

"I know right," Hermes said lifting his shirt. "I mean, I wear them too."

"Gods Hermes, put your shirt down." Artemis said

**Which would've looked funny, except the top half of his body was so scary.**

"No, I still think it would be funny." Nico said.

Thailia slapped him.

**Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener. **

"Really?" all the demigods sighed.

Percy frowned.

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's-"**

"**Pasiphae's son," my mother said. **

"Wow she's smart." Athena stated, the goddesses nodded, while Poseidon and Percy smiled.

"**I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

Poseidon, Nico and Thalia glared at the two brothers.

"**But he's the Min-"**

"**Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

"Very smart." Athens said. _Sally deserves a diploma…_Athena thought.

**The pine tree was still way too far-a hundred yards uphill at least. **

**I glanced behind me again.**

"You should stop doing that." Annabeth said.

Many jumped Annabeth had been so quiet ever since Percy had gone back, even if she looked a lot happier.

"If you keep looking back it'll just make you more scared." She smiled "At least that's what someone once told me." She looked at Thalia.

Thalia smiled and out a comforting arm around Annabeth. Percy secretly took her hand behind their backs and her smile became wider.

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows-or not looking, exactly. More like snuffing, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away. **

"**Food?" Grover moaned.**

Cue snickers and a red satyr.

"**Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

"He goes by smell." Athena said seeing the confused look on the boy demigods and Apollo's faces.

"Ohhhhhhh," they said together.

"Boys." Artemis said shaking her head.

"**His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

Athena was wondering how Poseidon could get such a smart woman.

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

_**Not a scratch,**_** I remember Gabe saying. **

Thalia, Nico, Annabeth and Percy looked at each other before saying "Oops."

**Ooops.**

The four demigods were laughing like crazy rolling on the floor.

"**Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way-directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

The gods were too shocked at the amount of information this mortal knew.

"**How do you know all this?"**

"**I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

Hera shook her head not agreeing with that. _A mother has a right to be with their child. Especially a child that cares for you as much as this demigod does…_

"**Keeping me near you? But-"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

Poseidon started hyperventilating again and Annabeth grabbed Percy's hand behind their backs to reassure herself he was there alive.

**He'd smelled us.**

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

_She's extremely strong. _Artemis thought. _She would have been an amazing huntress._

**I didn't want to split up, but I had a feeling she was right-it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me.**

Poseidon's breathing got faster.

**His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat. **

Aphrodite and Piper wrinkled their noses. "TMI, Percy, TMI." Aphrodite said winking at Percy.

No one noticed Annabeth's death look toward Aphrodite but Thalia. She was having a hard time controlling her laughter.

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand so hard it felt like it was going to fall off, but he didn't mind the feel of her fingers intertwined with his was the best feeling he had in months.

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never run outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train,**

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, then realized it wasn't over yet.

**then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother,**

Poseidon started breathing fast again.

**Who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

**We reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

"Not with that attitude." Athena snorted.

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

"**Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

"Sally…" Poseidon whispered to himself.

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. **

"No…" Poseidon said quietly but everyone heard him. Annabeth was holding Percy's hand tightly.

**He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

"**Mom!"**

Percy was crying silently, Rachel was the first to notice but knew he wanted the privacy.

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering gold form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash and she was simply…gone.**

Poseidon started crying and the demigods finally noticed Percy crying. The demigod grouped hugged Percy, while Hestia tried to talk to her brother.

After a couple of minutes they were able to calm down enough to keep reading.

"**No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear.**

"Cue butt kicking Percy." Nico said trying to lighten the mood it worked a little.

**Newfound strength burned in my limbs-the same rush of energy I gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that.**

"Thanks Percy." Grover said.

"No problem." Percy responded with a smile.

**I stripped off my red rain jacket. **

"**Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground Beef!"**

"Wow, dude you really need better insults." Apollo said.

Hermes nodded.

"**Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

**I had an idea-**

"Oh no." The demigods said.

The gods looked at them curiously.

**a stupid idea,**

They all sighed in relief. When they noticed the gods look of confusion, Annabeth spoke up. "Percy's ideas usually get us into a lot of trouble, it's his stupid ideas that save our lives."

"Hey!"

The demigods burst out laughing.

When they all calmed down Athena continued.

**but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

"When does it ever?" Annabeth sighed, making Poseidon worry.

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge. **

Poseidon started breathing fast yet again.

**Time slowed down.**

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck. **

Everyone looked at Percy shocked, but he tried his best not to catch anyone's eye.

The demigods through their hands up in frustration.

"Why do you have to be so modest? It's really annoying." Rachel said hitting him.

"But I probably did it because he rain water gave me extra strength." He said.

It was the wrong thing to say because Thalia, Annabeth, Clarisse, and Katie joined Rachel in hitting him, while the boys laughed.

"Ow! Can you please stop."

They stopped.

**How did I do that?**

"That's what we want to know." Ares spoke up.

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into a tree and the impact nearly knocked out my teeth.**

"OH YA!" Thalia screamed jumping up. The gods and demigods smiled at her knowing why she was so happy, while Piper, Jason, and Leo looked confused.

"See, I told you, you helped." Percy smiled at his cousin.

Know that all the attention was on Thalia, Artemis noticed something she didn't before, a faint silver glow around Thalia. "Thalia, are you one of my hunters?"

"Yes, Lady Artemis. I'm actually your lieutenant." She answered.

"What happened to Zoe?" Artemis asked.

Thalia and Percy looked down. "It will probably be explained in the books."

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I looked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

All the girls wrinkled their noses.

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

Athena nodded.

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

"Ow," Hermes and Apollo said at the same time.

"**Food!" Grover moaned.**

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother,**

Everyone gave Percy and Poseidon sympathetic looks.

**Made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and pulled backwards with all my might.**

"No way kid. You're not that strong." Ares said.

Percy smirked.

**The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then-**_**snap!**_

Everyone looked at Percy shocked but he looked down not trying to catch anyone's eye again. The girls rolled their eyes.

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock.**

Percy rubbed the back of his head at the memory.

**When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

**The monster charged.**

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right under his furry rib cage.**

The throne room was silent. Everyone was shocked about how a young demigod could kill the Minotaur with no training.

"That was awesome!" Leo yelled.

Everyone got out of there shock and was cheering. Percy was blushing, but decided he didn't want to get hit by the girls again, so he smiled at everyone.

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate-not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone.**

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held onto Grover-I wasn't going to let him go.**

_It's amazing how loyal this demigod is…_Hestia thought.

Grover was thanking Percy again.

**The last thing I remember was collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at the ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl,**

Percy was blushing madly, while it was taking all Annabeth had not to blush. The demigods were winking at them, while Aphrodite was thinking hard.

**Her blonde hair curled like a princess's.**

Now Annabeth was slightly blushing while the demigods were trying to not burst out laughing.

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

Now Percy and Annabeth were both red which went unnoticed by the gods but the demigods were dying trying not to laugh.

"**Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscience. Bring him inside."**

Everyone looked at Annabeth and Percy who were finished blushing and sitting pretty far apart. This stopped the gods from questioning, while the demigods were still snickering.

"Well that's it. We should go to bed. Hermes please show the demigods their rooms." Athena said.

Hermes nodded and the gods flashed out.

"Come on guys. You're going to love this." He said excitedly.

The demigods followed him out of the throne room.


	7. The Guest Rooms

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 7: The Guest Rooms

Hermes lead the demigods to their guest rooms. Finally, they reached a hallway with 29 doors.

"Okay, you will each be staying in your godly parent's guest room. Girls on the left, boys on the right. At the end of the hall is the commons. There's a kitchen there, a cozy reading section and a home theater. We'll meet back in the throne room at 9:00. Don't be late." Hermes said.

The demigods nodded.

"Okay have fun." And with that Hermes flashed out.

"What do you want to do?" Thalia asked her friends.

"I say we go to bed. It's been a long day." Annabeth suggested. Many nodded.

"Okay see you in the morning." Jason stated. Everyone turned around and headed for their room.

Thalia was the first to reach her room. She had decided she was going to stay in the Artemis room instead of the Zeus room. As she walked in, she gasped. It was beautiful in there, with soft gray walls, silver sheets and bedspread on a queen sized bed, and a flat screen TV. There was also a shooting range, to practice archery skills. Thalia couldn't imagine a better place to spend the night.

Rachel got to the girls Apollo room. It was painted yellow and orange, with gold sheets and bedspread on a queen sized bed, and the same flat screen TV as the Artemis room. To Rachel it was better than her room back home no matter how big it was. She felt like she actually belonged here, especially when she found some paint and a canvas in the corner. She settled down and started painting.

Jason walked into the Zeus room. He wasn't too excited about it since he didn't like the Zeus cabin too much but was surprised when he saw this room. It was much more like home, with light blue walls and sky blue sheets and bed spread on a king size bead, and a flat screen TV just like the others. But the thing that made Jason feel best was the felling of flying. The room made it look like he was soaring through the air. He jumped on his bed and instantly fell asleep.

Nico walked into the Hades room. He didn't know what to expect and that's what he loved. The walls were painted pitch black, as were the sheets and bedspread that cover the king sized bed. The same flat screen TV as in the other rooms was against one wall, and torches decorated the room. To Nico nothing could make it better.

Travis, Conner and Chris were talking as they walked into the Hermes room, but when they saw it the conversation just stopped. The walls were covered with wood like their cabin, there were three twin sized beds with white sheets and bedspreads. There was a flat screen TV that was three times bigger than the others. But what really got to the boys were the shelves upon shelves of video games and every kind of gaming console plugged into the TV. They all looked at each other and then screamed "Game on!"

Katie walked into her room wondering why Travis, Conner and Chris just yelled 'Game on!', but she lost her train of thought when she saw her room. The walls were painted evergreen green, and the sheets and bed spread were light green draped over a queen sized bed. A flat screen TV was put in the corner, but she didn't put much attention towards it. What really pulled her in was the enormous garden that covered half the room. She felt a smile creep across her face as she walked towards it.

Leo walked into the Hephaestus room. He was really excited to see where he was going to sleep. He walked in and froze. The room was orangey-red with the same coloured sheets and bedspread on a queen sized bed. There was a flat screen TV, like in every room, but Leo's eyes kept going back to the small forge, filled with tools and metal. "Cool!" he screamed and ran toward the forge.

Piper rolled her eyes as she walked into her room. She just heard Leo yell 'Cool!', which didn't surprise her he got very easily excited. What she didn't expect was her room. Everything was hot pink. The queen size bed covered in it, the walls bursting with it. Piper felt like she was going to barf, and that's when she noticed it. On the wall was a panel as she got closer she realized that it was a picture of a room, her room, she touched the walls and they turned blue, not only in the picture but in the real room. _Perfect…_she thought starting to design the perfect room.

Clarisse wasn't too excited about sleeping here but she had to do it. The Ares room was painted blood-red, along with the same coloured sheets and bedspread. There was a queen sized bed with a flat screen TV. The only thing Clarisse like about the room was the weapons and practice dummies. She immediately walked over to start practicing.

Grover walked into his bed room. He was totally shocked. It was pure white, which was not like Mr. D to him. He went and sat on the twin bed and somehow immediately fell asleep.

Annabeth walked into the Athena room. Instantly she smiled. The room was painted a soft gray. There was a twin bed pushed to one side of the room with gray sheets and a gray bed spread. The best part to Annabeth was that the room was filled with books. She started to scan the shelves, and pulled down a book. She sat on her bed and started reading. She was actually happy.

Percy was the last to walk into his room. He was still extremely happy about being back with his friends. He walked into the Poseidon room, the room was painted sea green with the same colour sheets and bedspread on a king sized bed. The same TV as the others was in the corner. The lights in the room gave the effect that he was underwater. He loved the place and sat down on the bed getting ready to watch a movie.

Later that night Annabeth snuck out of her room and headed down the hall. When she reached door three on the boys side she knocked. Percy answered and when he saw who it was he gave her a huge smile. She immediately smiled back and found herself in his arms. They felt strong and warm around her, and she didn't want him to let go.

That's when he kissed her. It had been so long since she felt this way. Ever since he left, she felt like her whole life had been over, but now she felt like she was floating and she didn't want it to end. But of course…

"I told you Nico." Thalia said from behind them.

They spun toward her. She was standing there with Nico smiling.

"I know. You called it." Nico replied smiling too.

They both got drenched in salt water.

"Percy!" They said together, but Percy and Annabeth were too busy laughing, which made Nico and Thalia laugh.

Percy pulled his cousins and Annabeth in a hug. "I've missed you guys so much." He whispered.

"We did too." They responded.

"Well we should really go to bed. We have to read tomorrow and use Percy's thoughts against him." Thalia said.

"Ha ha." Percy said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." And with that Percy gave Annabeth one more kiss and they turned to their rooms.


	8. A Twist

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 8: A Twist

When everyone woke up and had breakfast they headed for the throne room.

When they were all seated Annabeth noticed something was wrong. "Where's Rachel?" she asked.

Everyone looked confused.

"I don't think I saw her at breakfast." Katie noticed. The others nodded,

"She probably slept in." Percy said. "I'll go get her."

"I'll come." Nico volunteered.

Together they walked out of the throne room towards the Apollo room. When they got there Percy knocked.

"Rachel? You in there?" No answer came. Percy opened the door and walked into the room.

He was shocked at what he saw. Rachel was passed out on the floor with paint surrounding her. A paint brush was still clenched in her hand and a few inches away was an enormous painting.

"Wow." Nico said. The painting was of yesterday when they were reading the books. Everyone was laughing, and seemed so happy. Everyone was there except for Rachel. Percy walked over to her and gently shook her.

"Rachel? Time to get up." He said softly. She opened her eyes.

"Percy?" she asked still asleep. Then he eyes shot open. "Oh my gods! Did I sleep in? I'm soo sorry." She said a little rushed.

"Did you stay up all night painting this?" Nico asked her.

She nodded. "I guess I didn't realize the time."

"Well it's amazing." Percy told her and she smiled. "The only thing that would make it better is if you were in it."

"Ya," Nico agreed. "You make it seem like you don't belong here, not being in it."

She looked at the ground, which made Percy realize something. "Rachel, you know you do belong. Right?"

"Ya, but sometimes I don't feel like I belong." She said.

"Well you do. I wouldn't be here without you. Nico wouldn't be here without you." He pushed and Nico nodded.

"Okay, stop being so sappy." She responded and got up. "Don't we have to be somewhere?"

"Yup we do." Percy smiled. "It really is amazing."

Rachel smiled and lead the way to the throne room.

When they got back everyone gave them questioning looks.

"She was up painting all night." Percy answered them. The demigods rolled their eyes at Rachel, while the gods looked confused.

"Rachel is an amazing artist." Thalia told them. "She paints all the time."

"Yup check this out." Nico said pulling out the painting.

Rachel looked ready to slap him. "When did you take it?"

"When we left the room." Nico answered.

Everyone was looking at the painting in wonder, which made her blush.

"It's truly amazing." Hestia said, making Rachel blush harder.

"Ya you got the crazy look in Zeus' eyes perfectly." Poseidon joked earning a glare from the Lord of the Sky.

Rachel's face was as red as her hair making Percy laugh.

Aphrodite looked at the two. _Hmmm…maybe…_ she thought. She had been feeling a huge wave of love ever since Percy had arrived both from him and someone else she couldn't place. Now she thought maybe it was Rachel.

"Okay, we should start reading." Athena said. "Who would like to continue?"

"I will," Percy said taking the book.

"**I Play Pinochle with a Horse,"** he read.


	9. I Play Pinochle with a Horse

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 9: I Play Pinochle with a Horse

"**I Play Pinochle with a Horse,"** he read.

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

"Okay that's a weird dream." Jason said.

Everyone nodded.

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like butter popcorn, only it was pudding.**

"Ambrosia," Leo said.

**The girl with curly blonde hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

"What are you doing there Annabeth?" Athena asked a little worried. The gods were very interested, a daughter of Athena dating a son of Poseidon would be amazing gossip.

"Chiron asked me to help nurse him back to health." Annabeth answered. Most of the gods were convinced, but Athena was still a little worried.

Aphrodite on the other hand had been sure Percy was dating Rachel, but now she was getting a little suspicious of Annabeth. Something wasn't clicking to her.

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

"You really thought he knew something?" Thalia asked with raised eyebrows.

"I know, I know it was stupid." She responded.

"Hey!"

"**I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't…"**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding. **

"That's a way to shut Percy up." Rachel said earning a high five from Thalia.

"Ha ha." Percy shot her a look.

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

"Awww, he missed you." Aphrodite cooed, she was now really confused.

Now Athena and Poseidon were really starting to worry, as Annabeth and Percy blushed secretly holding hands.

**A husky blonde dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes-at least a dozen of them-on his cheeks, his forehead, the back of his hands.**

"Argus," the demigods said.

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. **

"Sounds beautiful." Demeter smiled.

The demigods smiled thinking about how beautiful camp could get.

**There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.**

"How would you know what that feels like?" Leo asked interested.

Percy just shrugged.

**My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.**

"Ooooo fancy." Apollo said, and Artemis slapped him.

**My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

"**Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he'd hadn't slept in a week.**

"Actually, it was only a couple of days, but it felt like a week." Grover said.

Percy smiled at him.

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse high-tops and a bright orange t-shirt that said **_**CAMP HALF-BLOOD.**_** Just plain old Grover. Not the goat boy.**

**So maybe I had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And…**

"I wish." Poseidon said with tears in his eyes.

"**You saved my life," Grover said. "I…well, the least I could do…I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap. **

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

"Sadly not," Annabeth said. Athena looked at her daughter worriedly.

"**The Minotaur," I said.**

"Are you trying to get everyone killed?" Athena asked.

"I was new, I didn't know." Percy defended.

"**Um, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"**

"Listen to your friend." Persephone said, she liked this demigod.

"**That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."**

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

"**My mom. Is she really…"**

There was a moment of silence for Sally.

**He looked down.**

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky.**

"I know a son of Hermes who loves the strawberry fields." Conner said with a smirk.

Percy catching on said "and in one strawberry in particular."

"But he just stares at it afraid to pick it." Annabeth finished.

Travis blushed while everyone else laughed at his expression. Well…except for Katie who was blushing as bad Travis.

**The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thalia asked a little offended.

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

"Oh." Thalia said softly. Nico put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she smiled at him.

"**I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm-I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

Zeus nodded.

"No you're not!" The demigods yelled.

Grover nodded.

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off.**

"Wow, you don't say that every day." Conner said.

"Nope." Travis agreed.

**I mean, the Converse high-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hove shaped hole. **

"**Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

**As he struggled to get his hove back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it. **

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. But I was to miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs.**

**All that meant was my mom had really been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

Poseidon's eyes widened in realization. "Why have you taken her?" he spat as he turned to Hades.

Athena gasped how could she have not seen it before, and to make matters worse Poseidon realized it first.

"What do you mean?" Apollo asked.

"The yellow light is metamorphosis, not death." Athena explained.

"So why have you taken her?" Poseidon spat again.

"I don't know, it's the future." Hades replied defensively.

"If she's not okay by the end of the book…" Poseidon said with a thoughtful look on his face as he imagined the best punishment. Hades gulped.

**I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with…Smelly Gabe? **

"Like I would let you." Poseidon grumbled.

Percy smiled at his dad.

**No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something.**

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid-poor goat, satyr, whatever-looked as if he expected to be hit.**

"I kind of was." Grover admitted.

"From Percy? Ya right." Thalia said rolling her eyes. The other demigods agreed it wasn't something Percy would do.

"I didn't know then." Grover defended.

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

"**Yes, it was. I was supposed to **_**protect **_**you."**

"**Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

"**No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least…I was."**

"**But why…" I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.**

"**Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here."**

**He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste,**

"Why, nectar tastes awesome." Travis said.

Everyone in the throne room nodded.

**because I was expecting apple juice.**

"Oh." Travis said.

**It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies-my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

The girls in the room cooed, while Percy smiled.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

"**Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

"**What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

"When don't you?" Annabeth asked.

"**Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

"No!" Everyone cried.

"Sorry, didn't know." Percy defended.

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just…wondered."**

"**Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."**

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

"**Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards." **

"**That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."**

"**What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

"Dun, Dun, Duuuuuuuuuun!" Conner interjected.

The girls rolled their eyes while the boys laughed.

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath. **

"Doesn't everyone." Piper said dreamily.

The demigods nodded, camp was extremely beautiful.

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with building that looked like ancient Greek architecture-**

"Well, it probably looked like that because it is ancient Greek architecture." Annabeth stated rolling her eyes.

Percy smiled at her.

**an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena-except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school age-kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at the archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.**

The demigods sighed. They all loved camp.

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blonde-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavoured pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

"What are you doing there, daughter?" Athena asked concerned.

"I'm usually the welcoming committee." Annabeth answered calmly.

Athena and Poseidon accepted this answer, while Aphrodite was going crazy. _She definitely likes him_ she thought, _but what about Rachel?_

"Nice save." Thalia whispered in Annabeth's ear in approval.

"Thanks." Annabeth whispered back.

**The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels-what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub that turned middle-aged in a trailer park. **

"Why you little-" Dionysus started but was cut off by all the laughing.

"You got the description perfectly." Apollo told Percy in between laughs.

"Your comedy gold dude. First the field trips now this." Hermes said eyes watering.

When everyone finally calmed down Percy continued.

**He wore a tiger pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my stepfather.**

"You got that right." Dionysus huffed still mad about the cherub thing.

"**That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper,**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth asked offended.

Grover sunk down in his chair. To save his best friend from his girlfriend, Percy continued to read.

**but she's been here longer than just about anybody. **

"Fine." Annabeth said taking that description. Grover sighed with relief.

**And you already know Chiron…"**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

"**Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes had in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers **_**B.**_

"**Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."**

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

Dionysus sunk down in his chair when he got the glares Zeus and Poseidon sent him.

"**Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

"**Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blonde girl.**

"Really? I'm still the blonde girl. I mean he literally just said my name." Annabeth huffed.

Percy scooted away a little.

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us.**

"**This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now." **

"Wooo! Go Hermes cabin!" The Stolls, Chris, and Hermes himself screamed.

**Annabeth said, "Sure Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking.**

"Not anymore." Aphrodite stated winking at Percy.

Percy blushed a little, and Annabeth looked like she was going to strangle Aphrodite. Thalia and Nico noticed, this time, and they couldn't stop snickering.

**With her deep tan and her curly blonde hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth and Athena yelled.

Percy continued reading in a rush.

**They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

Annabeth was shocked. That was exactly what she was doing. How could Percy pick up that but not the obvious hints she was giving him? She was thinking hard about this when Aphrodite's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Aww, he thought your eyes were pretty." She cooed.

Percy and Annabeth were blushing, while Poseidon and Athena looked really worried. Athena was trying to figure out the best way to bribe Aphrodite.

**She glanced at the Minotaur horn in my hand, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, **_**You killed a Minotaur! **_**or**_** Wow, you're so awesome!**_** or something like that.**

"From Annabeth, good luck." Katie snorted.

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

The throne room burst out laughing. Thalia was high-fiving Annabeth, and Poseidon and Athena relaxed a little.

**The she sprinted off down the lawn, her blonde hair flying behind her.**

"**So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

"**Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. **

"Fake name." Athena said seeing the confused look on the boy's faces.

"Boys!" Artemis said rolling her eyes.

**You may call me Chiron."**

"**Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D…does that stand for something?"**

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason." **

"**Oh. Right. Sorry."**

"**I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I made a house call to a potential camper. I hate to think I've wasted my time."**

"**House call?"**

"**My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he meet you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to…ah, take a leave of absence."**

"I wonder how he did that?" Leo asked.

Everyone just shrugged.

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taking the class.**

"**You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

"Ego alert." Nico and Thalia said together.

Percy was going to say something back but got cut off by Rachel. "Oh come on. Percy might be a lot of things, but he does not have an ego."

The demigods nodded. "Thank you." Percy said.

Aphrodite felt like she was going to faint with confusion. Before she thought it was Rachel, then Annabeth, and now she had no clue.

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn.**

"Well why didn't you teach him. You would have saved us a lot of time." Thalia said sarcastically. Nico nodded.

They both got soaked.

**Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."**

"I guess I didn't pass then." Thalia said looking down.

Everyone looked at her with pity, as Nico put a hand on her shoulder for comfort. She smiled at him in thanks and Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. She was feeling a wave of love coming off of them, but she didn't know if it was family love, they were cousins after all, or if it was more. She decided to work it out after she finished with this whole Percy, Annabeth, Rachel thing.

"**Grover," Mr. D said impatiently. "are you playing or not?"**

"**Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

Another round of laughter.

"**You **_**do**_** know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

"**I'm afraid not," I said.**

"**I'm afraid not, **_**sir,**_**" he said.**

"**Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

"**Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games invented by humans. I would expect all **_**civilized**_** young men to know the rules."**

"Well I guess I'm not civilized." Leo stated.

"We already knew that." Piper said.

"Oooooohhhh, you just got burned." The Stolls said.

"Oh, please like your any better." Katie told them.

"BURN!" Nico, Thailia, and Percy yelled. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"**I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

"**Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron-why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"**

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

**The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.**

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know no matter what my average was, **_**I**_** was his star student. He expected **_**me**_** to have the right answer.**

"**Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?"**

"**She said…" I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted me to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her." **

"**Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed.**

Poseidon lunged at Dionysus.

"How dare you say something like that!" he roared.

"Dad, please stop." Percy yelled.

Poseidon immediately stopped, and looked over to his son. Percy shook his head, and Poseidon went back to his throne still glaring at Dionysus, who was rubbing his neck.

**Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

"**What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

"**I'm afraid there is too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

"So you didn't watch the orientation film. That explains so much." Clarisse said.

The demigods all nodded.

"Hey!"

They all laughed.

"**No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"-he pointed to the horn in the shoe box-"that you killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very much alive."**

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for someone to yell, **_**Not! **_**But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

"**Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"**

"**Eh? Oh, all right."**

**Grover bit a huge you shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

"**Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as a God?"**

"**Well, now," Chiron said. "God-capital **_**G**_**, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

"**Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"**

"**Ah, gods, plural, as in, great being that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter." **

"Smaller?" All the gods asked.

"**Smaller?"**

"**Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

"**Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

"Don't you just love how he mentioned me but not his father." Apollo said. He got slapped by Artemis.

**And there it was again-distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

"**Young man," said Mr. D. "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

"**But their stories," I said. "They're-myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

"Oh no," Hermes said. "Now we're going to have to hear the science lecture from D again."

"**Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"-I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody-**

Percy covered his cousin's mouths when he saw them open.

"**what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals-they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come **_**so-o-o**_** far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me?"**

By the end of the paragraph the Stolls, Leo, Apollo and Hermes had fallen asleep. Artemis looked at them with disgust. "Cover your ears." She told the others. They obeyed. Out of thin air she pulled out an air horn. She blew it and all Hades broke loose.

Apollo and Hermes jerked awake and fell of their thrones. They hit the ground hard. The Stolls and Leo jumped up and tripped over each other.

"What the heck was that?" Conner asked still a little disoriented.

Artemis shrugged "Blow horn. Please continue Percy."

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much,**

"Who does?" Travis asked.

**but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if…he wasn't. it was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

"**Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that **_**immortal **_**means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal,**

"Well that's knew." Rachel frowned. The demigods looked at Percy, who just smirked at them. Annabeth let out a sigh of relief, she was worried that Percy wasn't to happy about his decision.

**but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

"Now that sounds more like Percy." Rachel stated and the demigods nodded. Percy smiled at all of them, which made them smile too.

The gods, Piper, Jason, and Leo looked confused.

"What are you guys talking about?" Hephaestus asked.

The demigods didn't answer.

"**You mean, weather people believed in you or not," I said.**

"**Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people will call **_**you **_**a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

Everyone looked confused. It wasn't like Chiron to say something like that.

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him.**

"Ladies and gentlemen," Nico said standing up. "the only time Percy controlled his anger."

Thalia clapped along with Nico.

Everyone laughed at the cousin's antics.

**I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

"**Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

"**A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe!"**

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

"Dionysus…"Zeus growled.

Dionysus gulped and sank a little in his chair.

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

Everyone laughed except for Dionysus who was still cowering under Zeus' glare.

"**Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise. **

"**Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

Zeus looked at Dionysus not entirely convinced.

**More thunder.**

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wine glass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of his soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

Some immature demigods snickered at this, and Dionysus glared at them.

"**A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

"**Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time-well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away-the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha! Absolutely unfair."**

"I think it's fair." Zeus said to Dionysus. "Don't you?"

"Yes father." Dionysus said trembling.

The demigods were trying not to laugh.

**Mr. D sounded about six years old,**

"Might as well be a six year old with the way he whines." Zeus said.

**like a pouting little kid.**

"**And…" I stammered. "your father is…"**

"_**Di immortals, **_**Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

**I ran though D names in Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

"**You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

"Wow. You actually figured it out." Nico said, "You're on a role."

Percy frowned, while everyone laughed.

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"**

"**Y-yes, Mr. D."**

"**Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

Aphrodite looked at Dionysus with a look of disgust, then she turned to Percy who said, "No I didn't." She let out a sigh of relief.

"**You're a god."**

"**Yes, child."**

"**A god. You."**

"I know I still can't believe it either." Apollo said laughing with Hermes.

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines chocking none believers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worst things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

"**Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

"**No. No, sir."**

"How hard was it to do that?" Thalia asked her cousin.

"I know right. Who knew Percy even knew how to use those words?" Nico added.

The demigods burst out laughing, while the gods looked confused.

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

"Yes, I finally beat him." Dionysus cheered.

"**Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

"Never mind." Dionysus frowned while everyone snickered.

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

"**I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, **_**again,**_** about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment.**

Grover looked down.

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

"**Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

Hestia was thinking about how kind this demigod was.

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been…ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he is allowed to go back to Olympus."**

"**Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

"**Well now, there's mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

"**You mean the Greek gods are here? Like…in **_**America**_**?"**

"**Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the west."**

"**The what?"**

"**Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilisation.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know-or as I hope you know, since you passed my course-the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps-Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on-but the same forces, the same gods."**

"Did anyone else find that confusing?" Leo asked.

The boys nodded, while the girls shook their heads.

"**And then they died."**

"Do we look dead to you?" Zeus asked angrily.

Percy shook his head, and continued.

"**Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture.**

Annabeth smiled at this.

**People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in painting, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city were the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not-and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either-America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

"Wow, Chiron really knows how to lecture." Travis said. Conner nodded.

The girls rolled their eyes at them.

**It was all too much, especially the fact that **_**I **_**seemed to be included in Chiron's **_**we,**_** as if I were part of some club.**

"**Who are you, Chiron? Who…who am I?"**

"The million dollar question!" Hermes said dramatically, he earned a slap from Artemis.

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

"I didn't know yet." Percy said, seeing Athena open her mouth. She frowned and leaned back in her throne.

"**Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

"That doesn't even begin to explain how much Chiron like chocolate." Annabeth said.

The other demigods nodded.

**And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear,**

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Really Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked.

The nickname didn't go unnoticed by Poseidon and Athena.

**but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheel chair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there was no way it could of held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached. **

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where it's neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk. **

"**What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been copped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"Well that's it." Percy said closing the book. "Who would like to read next?"

"I will." Artemis said.

"**I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom," **she read.


	10. I Beccome Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 10: I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

"**I Become Supreme Lord of the Washroom," **she read.

Everyone looked at Percy funny. He didn't seem to notice though because he was snickering and looking at Clarisse, who was sulking.

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done popper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

The boys were rolling on the floor laughing, while the girls were just laughing in their seats.

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's **_**him.**_**"**

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange **_**CAMP HALF-BLOOD**_** T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

"I bet most of us were." Katie said.

The others nodded.

"Can you do a flip?" Apollo asked.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. I've never tried it."

**I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized-four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distant impression I was being watched. **

"Creepy." Jason shivered.

"What's up there?" Piper asked.

The older demigods shivered. "You'll see." Percy replied.

"**What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

Piper blushed a little, making Jason a little jealous.

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

"**Somebody lives there?" **

"**No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

_The Orcale…_the gods thought.

**I got the feeling he was being truthful.**

"He was." Apollo said a little down.

**But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.**

"**Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

"He really needs to work on changing the subject." Hermes pointed out.

Apollo, the Stolls and Chris nodded.

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.**

Dionysus huffed at that.

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.**

"Nope!" all the demigods said.

"Thanks guys." Grover said sarcastically.

"No problem."

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D. **

"**Grover won't get into too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean…he was a good protector. Really."**

"Thanks for trying Perce." Grover smiled at his best friend.

"No problem, G-man." He replied returning the smile.

**Chiron sighed. He shed he tweed jacket and draped it over his horse's back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger then are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

"**But he did that!"**

Almost everybody nodded.

"**I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York.**

"Hey it's not Grover's fault Percy's an idiot." Thalia stated.

Grover said, "Thank you!" at the same time Percy said "Hey!" but nobody heard them because they were too busy laughing. Well except for Poseidon.

**Then there's the unfortunate…ah…fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.**

"**He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

Thalia stiffened. "That was his second chance." She looked down along with Annabeth. Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand as he was secretly holding it, while Nico put a reassuring hand on Thalia's shoulder. They both smiled.

While this was happening Zeus was giving Grover a death glare, but Grover was too worried about his friends to notice.

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that **_**was **_**second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age…"**

"**How old is he?"**

"**Oh, twenty-eight."**

Leo's jaw dropped open. "Your twenty eight?"

"Thirty-three actually." Grover corrected. Leo gaped at him, and everyone laughed at his expression.

"**What! And he's in sixth grade?" **

"**Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

"That's got to suck." Hermes said and Apollo nodded.

"The worst are the tests." Grover grumbled.

"**That's horrible."**

The guys all nodded.

"**Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…" **

"**That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

Annabeth gave Thalia a hug, while Grover looked down. Piper, Jason, and Leo were still confused.

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"Wow he really is bad at that?" Hermes noticed. "Boys-"

"Already writing it down dad." Travis interrupted his father, while Conner wrote in a little black book.

Hermes beamed at his sons with pride.

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word **_**death.**_** The beginnings of an idea-a tiny, hopeful fire-started forming in my mind.**

Athena looked at Percy like he was crazy, because he probably was, She knew what he was thinking and it would never work.

"**Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real…"**

"**Yes, child?"**

"**Does that mean the underworld is real, too?"**

Everyone looked at Percy shocked, who was trying not to catch anyone's eye. Hades smiled evilly, while Poseidon paled, _I'm going to have a heart attack by the end of these books…_Poseidon thought.

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

"**Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There's a place where spirits go after death. But for now…until we know more…I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

"Until we know more?" Hestia asked confused. No one had an answer for her.

"**What do you mean 'until we know more'?"**

"**Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."**

Hermes and his sons shook their heads in disappointment, while the others rolled their eyes at them.

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

"**Stocked with what?"**

"Monsters." Athena and Annabeth said together not being able to resist answering the question.

Everyone rolled their eyes at them.

**I asked. "Armed with what?"**

"We get it." Poseidon said quickly, seeing Athena and Annabeth open their mouths. They glared at him, but he wasn't affected, he got that glare all the time.

"**You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?" **

"Why would he have is own?" Jason asked.

"You'd be surprised how many kids do." Annabeth answered.

"**My own-?"**

"**No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, **

"The best kind." Conner stated, and Clarisse nodded. Everyone looked at her surprised, but she just waved it off.

**but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stable (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they had sword and sphere fights.**

"**Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

"**Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually.**

The demigods turned to Clarisse, who just waved off the looks she was getting.

**Oh, Yes, and there's the mess hall."**

_Really, really bad..._Hermes thought.

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion that was framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

"**What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

**Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.**

"Good idea." Annabeth said in approval.

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. They were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. **

Piper, Jason and Leo looked confused. They were all about to ask, but Annabeth cut them off. "Future." She told them. They let the subject drop.

**And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

"What's wrong with our cabins?" Artemis asked. The gods looked at Percy curiously and a little mad.

"I just meant none of them were the same, and I've never seen cabins like that." He answered. The gods sat back satisfied.

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. **

"See?"

**Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. **

"Mine." Leo and Hephaestus said together, they smile at one another.

**Number four had tomato vines on the walls and the roof was made out of real grass.**

"Mine." Demeter and Katie said together.

**Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.**

"Mine." Apollo said proudly.

Artemis rolled her eyes at her brother.

**They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

"Really? I've never seen you play." Nico said.

The demigods looked curiously at Percy.

"Well, I've been kind of busy." He told them.

They looked away knowing how much Percy had been through.

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

Hestia smiled, "You saw me?"

Percy smiled back.

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. It's polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. **

"Mine." Zeus said, then looked at his children disappointed.

When Jason and Thalia noticed everyone looking at them curiously they answered, "I don't live at Camp Half-Blood, I'm just staying there until things are figured out." And, "I'm lieutenant of the hunter of Artemis so I don't stay at camp, and when I do, it's with all the hunters in the Artemis cabin."

Both of them failed to say that they hated their cabin.

**Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

"Mine." Hera said proudly, _And it will always be empty…_

"**Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

"**Correct," Chiron said. **

"**Their cabins look empty."**

"Like they should be." Hera said pointedly at Zeus. Then she turned to glare at Thalia and Jason, who glared back.

"**Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

Cue Hera glaring at Jason and Thalia.

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. **

"That's an…interesting way to look at it." Hephaestus said.

The other gods nodded.

**Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?**

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

Poseidon smiled at his son, who smiled back.

"It's like he was foreshadowing who his father was." Artemis stated in aww.

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. **

Jason and Thalia sighed, they knew it was probably still hard for Percy to be alone, like they were, but cabin three seemed a lot more like home then cabin one.

**I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore of Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad Chiron put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

Thalia and Jason sighed again, but this time they were joined by Percy and Nico. The four cousins looked at each other and smiled. They would always have each other.

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers. **

**Number five was bright red-a real nasty paint job, as if the colour had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL **_**CAMP HALF-BLOOD **_**T-shirt under a camouflage jacket.**

Everyone looked at Clarisse, and she nodded to confirm.

**She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, **

"Are you kidding, I could squash that punk!" Clarisse grumbled. Chirs grabbed her hand to calm her down.

**though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

"**No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. **

"Go Party Ponies!" Hermes and Apollo cheered, high-fiving each other.

Artemis rolled her eyes then slapped both of them.

**You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

"**You said your name was Chiron. Are you really…"**

**He smiled down at me. "**_**The **_**Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

"**But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

The girl demigods rolled their eyes.

"Really Percy?" Annabeth asked seriously.

Percy looked away and started whistling.

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about **_**should**_** be. The truth is, I **_**can't **_**be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish…and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. **

The boys in the room shivered.

**It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.**

"Wouldn't have made mine either." Everyone said, except Athena and Annabeth.

"**Doesn't it ever get boring?" **

"**No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

"**Why depressing?"**

Everyone in the room sighed, making Percy pout.

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again. **

"**Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

**The blond girl**

Cue a mad looking Annabeth.

**I'd meet at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin one the left, number eleven.**

**When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

"Ha, Ha very funny." Annabeth said in a way that was more mad then sarcastic. She was still glaring at Percy, who was squirming in his seat.

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean literally, Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

"Maybe because it was an architecture book." Annabeth said rolling her eyes.

"**Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?" **

"**Yes, sir."**

"**Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on **_**old. **_

"Hey!" Hermes and his sons shouted.

**The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it…? **

"A caduceus." Hermes answered.

**A caduceus.**

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross set up an evacuation center.**

The Hermes kids nodded, then smiled thinking about how Percy had changed that, while Hermes glared at all the gods who had kids. Said gods squirmed uneasily in their thrones.

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.**

"**Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

"**Well?" Annabeth prompted.**

"Finally got my name." Annabeth mumbled.

"**Go on."**

**So naturally in tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.**

The throne room was filled with laughter.

"Naturally?" Apollo asked.

Everyone was too busy laughing to answer.

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."**

"**Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."**

**Everybody groaned.**

Hermes glared at the other gods again.

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." **

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-coloured clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

"Luke," Hermes said happily, while the demigods glared.

No one had fully forgiven Luke even if he did do the right thing in the end.

"**This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and I could have sworn she was blushing.**

"Was not!" Annabeth yelled at Percy, while everyone laughed at her.

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."**

"**For now?" I asked.**

"**You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all the newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travellers." **

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they given me.**

Cue more glares from Hermes.

**I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, **

"Yes, Percy. Set it down." Hermes said with a mischievous look. His sons had the same look.

Artemis slapped Hermes. "Stop being creepy." She said then went back to reading.

**but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.**

"Oh, shoot. Better luck next time boys." Hermes said sadly.

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for the chance to pick my pockets.**

"**How long will I be here?" I asked.**

"**Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

"**How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

The gods that had children looked guilty. They turned to their children, but they wouldn't meet their eyes.

"**Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

"**I've already seen it."**

"Wow Perce. How is it you can pick up the weirdest things but you can't pick up the obvious." Nico said taking a glance at Annabeth when he said it. Percy blushed, and Annabeth smiled.

"**Come on."**

**She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

"Oooooo, the last name." Thalia teased. She got hit with salt water.

"**What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that Annabeth?" she asked squealing.

"It's hard to explain, but it involves a prophecy." She answered.

Poseidon and Athena sighed in relief, while Aphrodite frowned. She still wasn't sure what was going on between Percy, Annabeth and Rachel.

"**What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I killed some bull guy-"**

"**Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they had your chance?" **

"**To get killed?"**

"**To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

"I'm pretty sure we all got over that." Katie said. All the demigods nodded.

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was **_**the **_**Minotaur, the same one in the stories…"**

"**Yes."**

"**Then there's only one."**

"**Yes."**

"**And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? **

"Not a real word." Athena stated.

"Does it look like anyone cares?" Poseidon replied.

"Kelp breath."

"Owl head."

"Seaweed for brains."

"Know it all."

"Why you-"

"Enough! Please continue daughter." Zeus interrupted.

**Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So…"**

"**Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

"Oh, because that makes total sense." Leo stated.

"Thank you." Percy said trying to prove his point.

The girls rolled their eyes.

"**Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

"**They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky.**

"Which you're not." Thalia added. The others nodded, even Percy.

**But they are primal forces. Chiron calls then archetypes. Eventually, the re-form."**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidently, with a sword-"**

"Ya, 'accidently'." Nico said making quotations with his fingers when he said accidently.

"**The Fur…I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

"**How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

"**You talk in your sleep."**

"Were you watching him sleep?" Conner asked with a mischievous smile.

Aphrodite was trying hard not to squeal, while Athena and Poseidon turned pale.

"No, when I was nursing him back to health he wouldn't shut up." Annabeth answered.

"So it's just as bad when he's asleep huh." Rachel stated.

Everyone burst out laughing while Percy tried to glare at Rachel, but he couldn't he missed all his friends laughing and making fun of each other.

Aphrodite noticed this and thought it was because he liked Rachel. _This is so confusing…_

"**You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

"Does anyone else find it ironic that we call them Kindly Ones?" Travis asked.

All the guys nodded, while the girls rolled their eyes at them.

"**Look, is there anything we **_**can **_**say without it thundering?"**

"No, not really." Thalia said jokingly, but she ended up glaring at her dad, who sunk down in his throne.

**I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on your parents are. Or…your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

"Okay people, get comfortable this is going to take a while." Thalia said grabbing a couple of chairs so she and Nico could put their feet up.

Everyone but Percy and Poseidon laughed at the cousins antics.

"**My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

Everyone looked down.

"**I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

"**He's dead. I never knew him."**

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your fathers not dead, Percy." **

"**How can you say that? You know him?"**

"**No, of course not."**

"**Then how can you say-"**

"**Because I know **_**you.**_** You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

"**You don't know anything about me."**

"**No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

"**How-"**

"**Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

**I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

"**Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD-you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

"I knew there was a reason why I hated all my teachers." Travis said.

"Ya, that's the reason. It wasn't because they gave you detention every five second because of all the pranks you guys pulled." Katie rolled her eyes.

"**You sound like…you went through the same thing?"**

"I did." Annabeth said under her breath.

"**Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

"**Ambrosia and nectar."**

"**The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. The stuff would've killed a normal kid. I would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start. **

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. **

Everyone looked over to Clarisse.

**She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

"**Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

"**Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

"_**Erre es korakas!**_**" Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse then it sounded.**

"It is." Annabeth confirmed.

"**You don't stand a chance."**

"**We'll pulverise you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

"**Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

Ares smiled evilly.

**I blinked. "Like…the war god?"**

"You got a problem with that?" Ares asked.

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

Clarisse looked uncomfortable, when everyone looked at her. Chris grabbed her hand for reassurance.

"**No," I said. Recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

"Burn!" The Stolls yelled.

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

"**Percy."**

"**Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

"**Clarisse-" Annabeth tried to say.**

"**Stay out of it, wise girl."**

The demigods gasped. Before they could say anything though Annabeth interrupted, "Not a big deal guys."

"Are you kidding it's a huge deal." Thalia retorted.

"Not here." Annabeth said firmly.

The demigods stayed quiet, while the gods and Piper, Jason, and Leo looked confused.

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

**I handed Annabeth my Minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

Ares grinned wildly, while Poseidon frowned.

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking-as much as I **_**could**_** think with Clarisse ripping my hair out-that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

The throne room burst out laughing.

"Man this kid kills me." Apollo said in between laughs.

"You have the strangest thoughts during a crisis." Demeter noticed.

"That's just Percy." Annabeth said.

When everyone calmed down, Artemis continued reading.

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there. **

"**Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

"Wow, Clarisse. Who knew you could say something funny?" Travis joked, he had to dive behind Katie to avoid the punch.

"Nice on Travis. Hiding behind your girlfriend." Conner said he earned a slap from a very red Travis as the rest of the demigods laughed.

"She's not my girlfriend." He said.

When Katie heard that she was kind of disappointed, but she put it to the back off her mind.

**Her friends snickered.**

**Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

"Was not." Said girl yelled.

"Ya you were." Percy and Clarisse said.

Annabeth grumbled under her breath.

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets.**

The girls scrunched their noses, while the boys didn't look so good either.

**I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scrummy water, thinking, I will not go into that, I won't.**

"Wow, so you were always this stubborn." Nio said in aww. He got drenched in salt water.

**Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach.**

Now it was Poseidon's turn to smile and Ares turn to frown.

"Your daughter is soo going to get it." Poseidon said to Ares.

He just frowned more.

**I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

**I turned just as the water blasted out of the toilets again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt.**

Everyone was laughing, while Clarisse and Ares frowned.

**The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall. **

Everyone was laughing harder.

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming towards her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.**

Everyone was laughing so hard now they could barely breath.

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.**

Athena was glaring at Percy now.

**She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.**

**I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

"That's so cool!" Leo shouted.

Percy nodded, "And it comes in handy sometimes."

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you…"**

"**I don't know."**

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage.**

"Remember what I told you about TMI." Aphrodite said gagging.

**She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh!" all the immature guys yelled.

"Say one more word I'll gut you like a fish." Clarisse told them. They shut up.

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her failing feet. **

**Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell if she was grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

"A little bit of both." Annabeth admitted.

"**What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

"**I'm thinking," she said. "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"What are you planning?" Athena asked her daughter.

"You'll see." Annabeth replied.

"Well, that's the end of the chapter." Artemis told everyone. "Who would like to read next?"

"I will." Rachel reached for the book.

"**My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke," **she read.


	11. My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 11: My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke

"**My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke," **she read.

Rachel was about to continue but she stopped.

"What's wrong Rachel?" Percy asked.

"It's the book. You guys probably didn't realize but it's in ancient Greek. That's probably how al you guys were able to read without your dyslexia acting up." She answered.

"Cool find, so continue." Zeus said impatiently.

"That's the thing I can't read ancient Greek." Rachel said a little disappointed. "I'm not a demigod, I'm the Oracle."

Just then Aphrodite gasped. Everyone could see, by the expression on her face, that her mind was working crazy hard. _Rachel's an Oracle, which means she swore off men so she can't be dating Percy. That leaves…Annabeth._

"What's wrong Aphrodite?" Athena asked.

"Nothing." Aphrodite replied with a huge smile.

Athena chose to ignore this, and turned to the problem at hand. She waved her hand in front of the book and said, "There, now whenever you hold the book it will be in English."

"Thank you lady Athena." Rachel said happily.

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately.**

"Of course it did, it's a camp. What did you expect?" Dionysus said annoyed.

Everyone looked at him shocked.

"What?" he asked.

They just looked away.

**Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

Annabeth didn't look to happy, Percy noticed and smiled at her. When she saw this, she had to smile back. She missed Percy so much and it was taking everything she had not to jump into his arms and kiss him.

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords),**

Hephaestus smiled at the mention of his kids.

**the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),**

"You called the great god Pan a goat-man!" Grover asked.

"Sorry. I didn't know." Percy said sheepishly.

**and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

"I love that wall." Leo said dreamily.

"Well, you're the only one." Piper and Jason said at the same time, making them both blush.

The other demigods nodded, while Aphrodite was looking at Jason and Piper. _Three couples to figure out, Percy and Annabeth, Thalia and Nico, and Piper and Jason. I think I'm going to get dizzy._

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake,**

"Two peoples favourites." Thalia said only loud enough for the demigods to hear. Percy and Annabeth blushed while everyone else snickered.

**where the trail led back to the cabins.**

"**I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

"**Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

"**Whatever."**

"**It wasn't my fault."**

"Ya, ok." Annabeth said rolling her eyes.

**She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it **_**was **_**my fault.**

"No duh." Annabeth said annoyed.

**I made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with plumbing.**

"Well. That's not usually how it's explained, but I guess it works." Poseidon said.

"I want to become one with plumbing." Conner whined.

"I'm sorry Conner, but to do that you need a brain." Rachel said.

Everyone but Conner were laughing as Thalia, Hermes and Apollo high-fived Rachel.

"**You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.**

"What?" Poseidon said _He's not ready for that yet…_

"**Who?"**

"**Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron." **

"Why are you talking about Rachel that way." Piper asked.

"This was before Rachel." Annabeth told her.

"I still take offence to that." Rachel said a little pissed.

"If she's mad know, wait until we read what Chiron says about mortals." Percy whispered to Annabeth. She nodded.

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

"Tell me about it." Leo mumbled.

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue-jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated lose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.**

"Technically, you are a long-lost friend." Hestia spoke up from beside the hearth.

Everyone thought about this for a little bit.

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

"**Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

"Ooooo, sounds like somebody's jealous." Travis mocked.

Then he stopped when a certain dagger was wedge in the floor a centimeter from where he was sitting.

"You know what, what do I know. Nothing, that's what." He said taking the knife out of the floor and giving it back to Annabeth.

"Whipped." Was heard from Hermes, Apollo and Conner's direction.

"**Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home know."**

Jason was surprised at the statement. "You mean that he is able to fight a fury, and then the minotaur, meet slash insult a God and fight an child of Ares, but a pretty girl gets him so overwhelmed that he wants to return home."

Many of the Gods laughed at this.

Thalia Laughed. "Let's just say that Percy has many talents, and isn't afraid of anything, but girls. He never has and never will understand them."

"He is just oblivious." Annabeth declared.

Percy pouted, while the guys continued to laugh.

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You **_**are**_** home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

Jason coughed at this.

"One of two of the safest places on earth for us." Annabeth corrected.

Thalia rolled her eyes at her brother.

"**You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

"Hey!" The demigods shouted.

"Maybe the Stolls, but the rest of us?" Katie said.

"You know what you can add Leo and Nico to that list." Thalia told her.

The mentioned people yelled "Hey!", while everyone else laughed.

"**I mean **_**not human.**_** Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."**

"**Half-human and half-what?"**

Everyone groaned.

"I'm sorry son, but you are really slow." Poseidon told his son.

"Thanks dad." Percy said sarcastically.

"**I think you know."**

**I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.**

"**God," I said "Half-god."**

"And he finally gets it." Thalia said lightly punching Percy on the shoulder.

"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny." Percy said sarcastically.

"I thought so." Thalia said smiling.

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

"**That's…crazy."**

"**Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

"**But those are just-" I almost said **_**myths **_**again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, **_**I **_**might be considered a myth. "But if all kids here are half-gods-"**

"**Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

"**Then who's your dad?"**

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling that I just trespassed on a sensitive subject.**

"When do you not?" Annabeth asked.

"**My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American History."**

"**He's human."**

"That is so sexist. You just assume the male gods are the ones who find humans attractive?" Athena said with a fire in her eyes.

"**What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a humane female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

Athena smiled at her daughter, who smiled back.

"Like mother, like daughter." Hera said.

"**Who's your mom, then?"**

"**Cabin six."**

"How is he supposed to know that?" Grover asked.

Annabeth just shrugged.

"**Meaning?"**

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

Athena again smiled at her daughter, who smiled back.

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Athena and Annabeth asked offended.

Percy just looked away.

"**And my dad?"**

"**Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

"**Except my mother. She knew."**

"**Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

"**My dad would of. He loved her."**

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.**

"I'm glad I didn't say anything, you were right." Annabeth said.

"Annabeth wrong? Oh the world id ending." Joked Conner.

"Shut up."

"**Maybe your right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."**

"**You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always…Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."**

"Is that how you guys really feel?" Athena asked.

All the demigod s looked down to avoid eye contact with their parents, while the gods with children looked down feeling guilty.

**I thought about some of the kids I had seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. **

The gods looked down again.

"Maybe you guys should claim your children." Hermes said a little angry.

The gods with children snapped their fingers. "Done." They all said.

"Imagine how it must look down there with all the sudden claimings." Zeus wondered.

**I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have time to deal with them.**

At that Rachel voice failed and Piper started to get glassy eyed. The gods of course didn't know so they were confused, but the demigods went into action. Jason put an arm around Piper and him and Leo started whispering to her, while Percy, who knew Rachel and her family best, went over to Rachel and did the same thing.

The gods watched as most of the demigod went over to Rachel and started talking to her, probably because they knew her and her situation better. When Rachel and Piper we back to normal all the demigods returned to their seats to start reading again.

When they noticed the gods looking at the curiously, they just ignored it and waited for Rachel to continue.

**But gods should behave better.**

"**So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

"**It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force.**

"Hey!" said goddesses and their children yelled.

"Sorry. I just meant you don't really have a strong scent." Annabeth said trying to calm them down.

**The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them.**

"Like who?" Leo asked curiously.

"George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo DaVinci, Katy Perry, Emma Watson, etc." Annabeth answered.

**Some don't even realize their demigods.**

"Lucky." Nico said.

The others nodded.

**But very, very few are like that."**

"**So monsters can't get in here?"**

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by someone on the inside."**

"**Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

"**Practice fights. Practical jokes."**

All the demigods looked to the Stolls.

"Hey, we stopped after the incident." Travis defended, while Conner nodded.

_What incident? _The gods wondered.

"**Practical jokes?"**

"**The point is, the boarders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

"**So…you're a year-rounder?"**

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colours. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

Athena's eyes opened in realization.

"**I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counsellors, and they're all in college."**

"**Why did you come so young?"**

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

"**Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So…I could walk right out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

"Please don't." Poseidon said worriedly.

Percy smiled at his father, who smiled back.

"**It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session, unless…"**

"**Unless?"**

"**You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time…"**

Hermes looked down.

**Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.**

Hermes shook his head.

"**Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"**

"**Ambrosia."**

"**Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you **_**do **_**know something?"**

"**Well…no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

'That's what we want to know." Artemis stated agitated.

**She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so **_**normal.**_**"**

"**You've been to Olympus?"**

"**Some of us year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others-we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."**

"**But…how did you get there?"**

"**The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You **_**are **_**a New Yorker, right?"**

"There are a lot of New Yorkers that don't know that, Annabeth." Thalia pointed out.

"Ya, but I assumed he saw through the mist and noticed it there." Annabeth replied.

"I didn't even see it there." Rachel said.

"The mist covering Olympus is very strong. Just to make sure clear sighted mortals don't notice and start alerting everyone." Athena told them.

"Oh." The demigods said.

"**Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only one hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

"**Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting.**

Cue looks at Poseidon and Zeus.

**A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I could figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping…I mean-Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. **

Athena nodded.

**But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."**

"Well that was stupid of me." Annabeth teased.

The others nodded, while Percy yelled, "Hey!"

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt to hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

"**I've got to get a quest," Annabeth murmured to herself. **

"Your too young daughter. Perhaps now…" Athena started.

"Actually mom, I've been a part of two quests, been rescued by a quest, lead a quest, and fought in a war already." Annabeth told her mom.

The gods were shocked. Hestia seemed like the first one to get over it. "What war?"

"You'll see." Was all she said.

"**I'm **_**not **_**too young. If they would just tell me the problem…"**

**I could smell barbeque smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl.**

"How could I not? It was louder than Zeus' yelling." Annabeth rolled her eyes along with the rest of the girls.

**She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.**

"She probably was." Thalia said knowingly.

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as trouble makers. Thankfully, nobody paid attention to me as I walked over to my pot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn.**

**The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.**

"**Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camper store."**

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.**

"Probably not." Conner informed everyone.

**I said, "Thanks."**

"**No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

"**I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

"**Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

Hermes frowned, and so did some of the other gods.

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. **

"He was." Thalia said only loud enough for the demigods to hear.

Annabeth nodded.

**He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

"**So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switch blade out of his pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but he just scrapped the mud of the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."**

"**The wing-footed messenger guy?"**

"Why does everyone describe me like that?" Hermes asked annoyed.

Percy smiled sheepishly.

"**That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

Hermes frowned again.

**I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody.**

"Probably did." Nico muttered.

**He just had a lot on his mind.**

"**You ever meet your dad?" I asked.**

"**Once."**

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.**

Hermes shook his head sadly, remembering the meeting with his son.

**Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."**

"Sounds better when you say it Perce." Thalia said.

Everyone nodded.

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him-even if he was a counselor-should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.**

"So apparently I wasted my time trying to help you understand what was going on." Annabeth said annoyed.

"Yup." Percy said just to make her mad.

She was ready to lunge at Percy with her dagger, but Thalia held her back.

Athena and Poseidon watched this happily thinking that was the way their children were supposed to act to one another.

**I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that was bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth…twice, she said I might be 'the one'. She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

"Me too." The demigods coursed, making Apollo frown.

"**What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until…somebody special came to camp."**

"See?"

Everyone nodded, Aphrodite a little disappointed.

"**Somebody special?"**

"**Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, its dinnertime."**

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I never heard one before.**

**Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from other cabins, too, except from the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.**

"Mine," Artemis and Thalia said together smiling proudly.

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods-and when I say out of the woods, I mean **_**straight **_**out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.**

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers,**

"What? There are way more now." Piper said confused.

"Well something happened that made campers just flood in." Clarisse told her.

**a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.**

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of the bench with half my butt hanging off.**

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D.**

Mr. D smiled behind his wine magazine at the mention of his sons.

**Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur. **

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blonde hair.**

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

Clarisse huffed, and Chris squeezed her hand.

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbeque!**

"I love barbeque." Percy said dreamily.

"Yes we all know you can eat four plates of barbeque at once. Can we continue now?" Thalia said eagerly.

"Wow, wait a second. Four plates at once?" Aphrodite asked.

Percy blushed a little and nodded. The girls looked at him in shock, while the guys looked at him in amazement.

Trying to save Percy from this moment Rachel continued.

**My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want-nonalcoholic, of course."**

**I said, "Cherry Coke."**

"That's my favourite soda." Poseidon said.

Percy smiled at him.

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

**Then I had an idea. "**_**Blue **_**Cherry Coke."**

Everyone in the throne room smiled.

**The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.**

**I took a cautious sip. Perfect.**

**I drank a toast to my mother.**

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday…**

_Oh no._ Poseidon thought.

"**Here you go, Percy." Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.**

The guy's mouths watered.

"Can we have lunch?" Leo asked.

"Well it's around that time, so after this chapter we'll eat." Athena told them.

**I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.**

The girls rolled their eyes, _Food. That's all boys think about…_

"**Come on," Luke told me.**

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offering for the gods. They like the smell."**

"**You're kidding."**

"I know right." Travis said.

**His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

Hermes smiled.

**I was next.**

**I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

**Finally, I made a silent plea. **_**Whoever you are, tell me. Please.**_

Poseidon smiled. He was waiting for the moment he claimed Percy.

**I scrapped a big slice of brisket into the flames. **

**When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

"Apollo tried to once," Hermes explained. "and we all thought he was actually doing it. Until a week later, I found him in the kitchen pigging out in the middle of the night."

By the end of the story everyone was laughing at the red Apollo.

**When everyone had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."**

"WOOOO!" Ares cheered.

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

"**Personally," Mr. D continued. "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." **

Everyone in the throne room rolled their eyes and Dionysus.

**Chiron murmured something.**

"**Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

"Nice speech D." Apollo said. "I know who to call if I want to torture people."

"Now, now, Apollo. If you want to torture people the best person to call is Athena, while she's giving one of her lectures." Poseidon corrected.

Everyone but Athena and Annabeth was laughing.

**Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheatre, were Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. **

"They always do." Apollo said proudly.

**We sang camp songs about the gods ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

The demigods smiled. They all felt the same way about camp.

**Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into the starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't know how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.**

"Ya," Chris said. "borrowed."

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

Hera smiled.

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.**

**That was my first day at Camp-Half Blood.**

**I wish I'd known how briefly I'd get to enjoy my new home.**

"Oh great." Poseidon said.

"We'll let's get some lunch." Athena said getting up.

The gods did the same, and the demigods followed them into the kitchen.


	12. Lunch

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 12: Lunch

The demigods followed the gods through Olympus and into the kitchen. What they saw was so amazing they stopped in their tracks.

The kitchen was made entirely of shimmering white marble, speckled with golden designs. There were fourteen fridges and fourteen ovens, as if each god had their own kitchen. There were two long tables in the center of the room, were every food you could think of was placed. There were fruits, fries, dumplings, rice, salads, and yes, barbeque!

"Well, demigods, what are you waiting for dig in." Athena told them.

The demigods didn't need to be told twice. They raced over to the plates and started loading their plates with food.

Half way through lunch, the gods noticed their children all standing to one side talking and laughing. It looked like Conner and Travis were telling a story and everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves. The gods noticed how none of them seemed to be fighting, and how they looked like a real family, then they looked down. It was amazing how their children can be a family but they couldn't.

After lunch everyone made their way back to the throne room, the demigods still laughing.

"Who wants to read next?" Rachel asked.

"I will." Piper said happily.

"**We Capture a Flag," **she read.


	13. We Capture a Flag

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 13: We Capture a Flag

"**We Capture a Flag," **she read.

"Yes! Some action!" Ares yelled.

Everyone rolled their eyes at him.

**The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.**

**Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth,**

"Honestly daughter," Athena sighed. "You guys are practically attached to the hip."

Annabeth and Percy blushed as Thalia leaned into Nico, Grover, and Rachel.

"Usually it's buy the mouth." she whispered to them.

The four of them were snickering so much, their faces were beat red.

**and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird.**

"Why? We're here in the present aren't we?" Apollo asked.

Artemis rolled her eyes and slapped him. "It's weird because he's never done it before."

"Oh."

**I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia:**

"When is she not?" Thalia grumbled.

Annabeth smiled.

**Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache. **

**The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail.**

Everyone was laughing but the twin archers. They couldn't believe someone could be that bad.

"Where was Chiron standing?" Jason asked.

"Behind me." Percy answered bring another course of laughter.

"How did you manage that?"

"Well…Okay, I shoot the arrow and it flew the wrong way, hit a tree then another, through a bunch of campers, then it the dirt, then in Chiron's tail."

Everyone gapped at him.

"Hey, Poseidon, he's better then you." Hades joked.

Poseidon smiled sheepishly knowing it was true.

**Foot racing? No good either. The wood nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods.**

The gods had a dreamy expression, while the goddesses rolled their eyes and hit the gods beside them.

**But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.**

"Tell me about it." Nico said.

**And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.**

"**There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.**

Ares nodded approvingly at his daughter.

**The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.**

"Ya, I remember everyone wondering what kind of lame god excelled at canoeing. No offence." Travis added looking wearily at Poseidon.

"None taken." He told him.

**I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids,**

Ares and Clarisse shook their heads.

**or as good at archery as the Apollo kids.**

"No way." Apollo said.

**I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metal work or-gods forbid-Dionysus way with vine plants.**

"Feelings mutual." Dionysus muttered from behind his wine magazine.

**Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermes asked a little hurt.

**But I got a feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either.**

**Despite all that, I liked camp.**

"Who doesn't." Katie asked with a smile.

**I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection with my real dad. **

Poseidon smiled,

**Nothing came.**

then frowned.

**Just the warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back…**

**I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father,**

At this both Hermes and Poseidon frowned.

Percy smiled at his dad to reassure him, which made Poseidon feel better.

**Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make diet coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?**

"I wish I could." Poseidon spat glaring at Zeus.

Zeus ignored the glare, and turned to the book again.

**Thursday afternoon, three days after I arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson.**

"This is going to be good." Thalia said leaning forward in her seat.

Most of the demigods did the same.

**Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.**

**We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.**

The demigods who had been there during the war, snorted.

**The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long.**

"Well that's no good. A balance sword could be the difference between life or death." Athena stated.

**Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me. **

**We moved on into dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.**

"**Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsmen in the last three-hundred years."**

Hermes smiled proudly, while Chris said not anymore.

Hermes frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Percy has that title now." Thalia answered.

Percy blushed a little. "I'm okay." He said shyly.

Rachel groaned, and slapped him again, with Annabeth and Thalia.

"**Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.**

**The camper snorted.**

**Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" **_**Whap**_**! "Lunge!" **_**Whap**_**! "Now, back!" **_**Whap**_**!**

**By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same.**

Poseidon smiled, _This is going to get a little more interesting…_he thought.

**Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.**

"**Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."**

**Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.**

"Oh, I love that show." Travis said.

"Ya, it's pretty amazing." Conner added.

They got splashed with sea water. Percy smiled and turned to Piper, "Continue."

**The Hermes guys gathered around. They were supressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon. **

"**This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."**

"Took me a week to get it." Clarisse said proudly.

"Took me three days." Thalia countered.

Percy smiled.

**He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sur enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.**

"**Now in real time," he said, after I retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"**

**I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force. **

**The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?**

**I tried the disarming maneuver. **

**My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.**

_**Clang**_**.**

**Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.**

There was a shocked silence in the throne room, until…

"Hey Clarisse and Thalia." Percy said smiling "First try."

Said girls huffed while everyone laughed.

Poseidon smiled at his son proudly, and Percy smiled back.

**The other campers were silent.**

**I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."**

"Why are you apologizing?" Artemis asked.

"That's Percy. Apologizes for no reason." Grover answered her.

**For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.**

"**Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Sow me that again!"**

**I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted.**

**This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.**

**After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"**

"Ya, if beginner's luck lasts forever." Nico stated.

**Luke wiped the sweat of his brow. He appraised at me with entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword…"**

"A lot of damage." Nico told everyone, remembering the fight at the River Styx.

**Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me.**

The demigods cringed remembering their experiences with that wall.

**My shirt had smoking hole in it. The hairs had been singed of my forearms.**

**We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.**

**His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.**

Aphrodite looked like she was going to barf after that last line.

"**Fine," he said. "Just great."**

"**So your career's still on track?"**

**He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I wanted a searcher's license?"**

"**Well…no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He just said you had big plans, you know…and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"**

Everyone listened curiously.

**Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr.D suspended judgement. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates are still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."**

"_Maybe _he'd _consider_?" Athena asked Dionysus.

He just shrugged.

**My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not bad, right?"**

"_**Bla-ha-ha!**_** He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest…and even if you did, why would you want **_**me**_** along?"**

"How ironic is that?" Grover asked.

"Why is that ironic?" Poseidon asked nervously.

"Uhhh…you'll see soon." Percy said trying to calm his father down.

"**Of course I'd want you along!"**

"What a great friend." Hestia smiled from the hearth.

**Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving…Must be nice to have a useful skill."**

**I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins.**

"**Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she be mad."**

"I guess that's true," Artemis said in deep thought. "but my hunters do need a place to stay when they visit camp."

"**Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the big three?"**

**Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job.**

"Why you little-"

"The satyr sees sense." Hera interrupted her husband.

**When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."**

"**Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."**

"**Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."**

"**Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."**

"**Uh-huh."**

"**But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."**

Hades grumbled under his breath at that.

"**No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either.**

Hades' grumbling got worse.

**He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here…" Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."**

"Hey!" Hades and Nico yelled.

"Sorry." Grover apologized.

"**But Zeus and Poseidon-they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths.**

"Not a real word." Athena interrupted.

"Would you shut up." Poseidon told her.

Piper continued before a fight could break out.

**Why are their cabins empty?"**

**Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire anymore heroes. Their children were just two powerful.**

"Ya we are." Percy, Thalia and Nico said high-fiving each other, while Jason smiled.

The other demigods rolled their eyes but agreed.

**They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight with the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal woman. They all swore on the River Styx."**

"Ya, look how well that turned out." Demeter pointed out.

**Thunder boomed.**

**I said, "That's the most serious oath you could make."**

"Didn't seem to make a difference for them." Hera said.

"Hey, I kept the oath." Hades pointed down.

Poseidon and Zeus were trying their hardest not to make eye contact with anyone.

**Grover nodded.**

"**And the brothers kept their word-no kids?"**

**Grover's face darkened. **

Thalia sighed she knew this was coming. It was time for her story.

Hearing his cousins sigh Nico put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Thalia looked up at him and smiled. She was greatful to have him and Percy there for her.

Aphrodite noticed the hand and the smile and was trying to figure out what was going on between the two. _So many couples…_

"**Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with big fluffy eighties hairdo-he just couldn't help himself.**

Hera rolled her eyes then glared at her husband.

**When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia…well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."**

Everyone looked toward Thalia, who was looking at the floor.

"**But that isn't fair! It wasn't the little girl's fault."**

"Thank you." Thalia said approvingly.

Percy smiled at her.

**Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other Half-Bloods.**

Those exact children smiled smugly.

**They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. **

Zeus and Nico glared at Hades.

"What you would've done the same." Hades told Zeus.

"You know what, that's your problem! You couldn't just let it go for any of us! We can't do anything without you trying to kill us!" Thalia screamed at two of the Big Three.

Everyone in the room was staring at her in shock, except for Percy who was smiling proudly at her for say something.

"Thalia it's not that easy-" Zeus started.

"YA IT IS!" Thalia interrupted. "You two try to do everything to kill us! Why couldn't you let it go!"

When she calmed down, Piper nervously started reading again.

**A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do.**

Grover looked down.

**He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."**

**He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree were I'd fought the minotaur. "All three kindly ones were after them, along with a hoard of hellhounds.**

Nico glared at his father, who wouldn't meet his eye.

**They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters.**

At this Thalia and Annabeth were holding hands and had silent tears streaming down their faces. Percy and Nico were doing their best to try and comfort them, but they knew it wouldn't work.

**She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. **

Thalia shook her head, tears still streaming down her face.

**The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. **

"I didn't want your pity." Thalia whispered, but it was so quiet in the room everyone heard her.

"What was I supposed to do let you die." Zeus said.

"Yes." Thalia whispered. Then she did something no one expected, she stood up and walked into the middle of the throne room. "Yes." She said louder and more confidently. "I was ready to die. I didn't want to live like that anymore. I didn't want to be scared twenty-four-seven, that I was going to get killed by Hades minions. I was ready to die."

She walked back to her seat were she collapsed. Annabeth was fully crying now, but she managed to choke out "You told me you were coming back, not that you were ready to die."

Thalia pulled her into a hug and said, "I'm sorry."

Through this exchanged Jason sat there absolutely frozen after what his sister said and what they were reading, he couldn't manage to move, while Nico glared at Hades so fiercely he looked like his face might get stuck that way.

**Her spirit still protects the boarders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."**

Jason finally manage to get over his shock. "So you were a pine tree?"

Thalia nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked a little angrily.

"I didn't want to remember." She answered quietly.

Jason stopped.

**I stared at the pine in the distance.**

**The story made me feel hallow, and guilty too. **

"Of course you would feel guilty, Kelp Head." Thalia managed to smile.

Percy gave her a one arm hug, and grabbed Annabeth and Nico to join.

**A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much. I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?**

Percy looked down, and Thalia tried to comfort him.

"**Grover," I said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"**

"Yup, but no one's got out." Hades said proudly.

"**Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."**

"**And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"**

Everyone decided to let this one go because Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Rachel, and Grover were trying to comfort Percy.

"**No. Never. Orpheus came close…Percy, you're not seriously thinking-"**

"**No," I lied. "I was just wondering. So…a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"**

**Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I really dropped the Underworld idea.**

"Of course not," Annabeth said "he could read your emotions."

When the gods looked around at the demigods, they noticed everything seemed back to normal.

"**Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."**

The children of the Big Three smiled sheepishly.

"**And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."**

**Grover looked as if I just led him into a trap. "I didn't…Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you **_**were**_**-you know-you'd never **_**ever**_** be on a quest,**

At that all the demigods started laughing.

"Never ever," Nico laughed. "Nice one Grover."

Grover was too busy laughing to answer.

The gods looked at the demigods, like they were aliens, and Poseidon looked a little worried.

**and I'd never get my license.**

"A little selfish there Grover." Travis pointed out.

Grover smiled sheepishly.

**You're probably a child of Hermes.**

"I wish," Hermes said. "this kid is a goldmine."

Apollo agreed, bumping knuckles with Percy.

**Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge.**

"I'm pretty sure Nemesis is a goddess, Grover." Athena told him.

He blushed.

**Don't worry, okay?"**

**I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.**

**That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. **

**At last, it was time for capture the flag.**

**When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.**

**Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.**

Athena smiled proudly.

**From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head. **

Ares grinned wildly.

**I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"**

"**Not always," he said. "But often."**

Ares, Athena, Annabeth, and Clarisse smiled.

"**So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do-repaint the flag?"**

Everyone groaned, making Percy pout.

**He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."**

"**Whose side are we on?"**

**He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. **

The demigods growled.

"**We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And **_**you **_**are going to help."**

**The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins.**

Athena nodded her head in approval, making Annabeth smile.

**Apparently, privileges had been traded-shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities-in order to win support.**

**Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, **

Dionysus smiled behind his wine magazine.

**but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoors stuff,**

Demeter smiled at Katie.

**but they weren't very aggressive.**

Katie nodded.

**Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. **

Piper and Aphrodite frowned.

**They mostly sat out in every activity and checked their reflections in the lake, and did their hair, and gossiped.**

Aphrodite smiled at that, while Piper frowned.

"Actually, when Piper arrived they became more into stuff, and let me tell you they can be aggressive." Annabeth said.

Piper smiled.

"If they're anything like Silena I believe it." Percy said.

The demigods smiled and nodded, but looked down.

**Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. **

Hephaestus smiled, and Leo was practically jumping out of his seat.

**They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.**

Ares smiled madly, while Clarisse looked downright scary.

**Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.**

"**Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be promptly displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. **

"Aww, where's the fun in that?" Ares asked.

"Idiot." Artemis murmured.

**I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"**

**He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal. **

"**Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"**

**Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five.**

Ares and Clarisse grinned evilly.

**Here-Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."**

**My shield was the size of a NBA backboard, with a big caduceus it the middle. It weighed about a million pounds.**

"I've noticed you seem to over exaggerate a lot." Hera said.

Percy grinned.

"Just like his father." Athena stated.

Poseidon glared at her.

**I could have snowboarded on it fine,**

"Ya snowboarding on a shield. Greatest idea ever." Thalia said glaring at Percy.

"Hey! It got us out of there, and it wasn't my fault someone wouldn't cross the bridge." Percy retorted.

Everyone looked at the two cousins going at it.

"Does anyone know what they're talking about?" Artemis asked.

Everyone else in the room shook their heads, no one had a clue.

When the cousins finished arguing, Piper continued.

**But I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet, like all helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.**

**Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"**

**We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off to the north. **

**I managed to catch up to Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."**

**She kept marching.**

"Oooo, the cold shoulder." Conner teased. He had to wedge a knife out of the stone beside him.

"**So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"**

**Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I stolen something.**

"What? He was undetermined, and everyone thought he was a child of Hermes." She told the looks she was getting.

They shrugged and turned back to the book.

"**Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"**

"**Border patrol, whatever that means."**

"**It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."**

"I swear that's your catch phrase." Leo said.

"It's true." Annabeth told him.

**She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.**

Athena smiled. Maybe her daughter knows what she's doing when it comes to the sea spawn.

"Why are you being so cold, Annabeth?" Rachel asked.

"I guess I was guilty about what my plan was." Annabeth answered.

Percy nodded.

"**Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."**

**I was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.**

**Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the other swords I tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.**

"Not good," Athena said, making Poseidon pale.

**There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus has liability issues, right?**

"Ya, okay." Apollo said sarcastically.

**Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whops and yells in the woods the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. **

**Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun as usual.**

**Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.**

Poseidon paled again.

**I raised my shield instinctively, I had the feeling something was stalking me.**

**Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating.**

**On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark. **

"**Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.**

**Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords-not that that made me feel any better.**

Ares smiled widely. This was going to be good.

**They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.**

**I managed to side step the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid as the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.**

**Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.**

"Great.," Poseidon said anxiously.

Ares smile got bigger.

**I fell back.**

**Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.**

**They could've kicked me into jelly, busy laughing.**

"**Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."**

At this Annabeth glared at Clarisse, who sank down in her chair.

**I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear and sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb.**

Poseidon was so pale he could challenge Hades.

_Please be okay, please be okay..._He chanted in his head.

"**Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."**

"You should be." Nico said.

Clarisse sank lower.

"**The flag is that way," I told her.**

"I lied." Percy told everyone who was giving him a look.

"He did." Clarisse confirmed.

**I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way.**

Clarisse snorted. "No it did not."

"**Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about the guy who made our cabin look stupid."**

"You do that without his help." Thalia told Clarisse.

Clarisse and Percy burst out laughing.

"**You do that without my help," I told them.**

"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head.

"Thalia has percycits." Nico yelled.

"Shut up Nico." Thalia told him.

**It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.**

**Two of them came at me. I back toward the creek,**

"Yes, go to the water." Poseidon stated.

**tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs.**

Poseidon caught his breath,

**If I hadn't been wearing an armor breastplate, I would've been shish-ke-bobbed. **

then let it out.

**As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth.**

Ares was smiling wildly.

**One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-sized cut.**

**Seeing y own blood made me dizzy-warm and cold at the same time.**

"**No maiming." I managed to say.**

"**Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."**

Hestia frowned. "That doesn't seem like a big enough punishment for maiming." She said concerned.

The goddesses all nodded in agreement.

**He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash.**

Ares smile deflated, while Poseidon grinned victoriously.

**They all laughed.**

"Not for long." Grover stated.

**I figured as soon as they were threw at being amused, I would die.**

"Okay, that's a little extreme. I wasn't going to kill you." Clarisse said.

Percy shrugged.

**But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.**

**Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword at the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. **

Ares frowned, while Poseidon beamed at his son with pride.

**I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water. **

**Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick.**

Ares frowned more.

**Ugly Number Four didn't look very anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield sword and I snapped it like a twig.**

"Ah!" Ares screamed, while everyone else cheered.

"**Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"**

"Hey Nico she mentioned you." Thalia teased.

"Ha, ha very funny." Nico said over the laughter.

**She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her in between the eyes with my sword-but and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.**

The demigods snickered, while Clarisse huffed.

**Then I heard yelling, elated screams, racing toward the boundary line with the red teams banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folk got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.**

Athena's eyes widened. She smiled at her daughter; it was truly a brilliant plan.

"**A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick!"**

The throne room gasped.

"It was brilliant, daughter." Athena said.

"Brilliant? He was the bait for five Ares campers. Ya it was brilliant, a brilliant way to get him killed." Poseidon shot back.

Athena rolled her eyes at him.

**They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. **

"Ya!" Hermes pumped his fist in the air, Athena smiled, and Ares frowned.

**The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out of the woods and blew the conch horn.**

**The game was over. We'd won.**

**I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."**

**I looked, but she wasn't there.**

All the people who didn't know looked at Annabeth confused.

"**Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankee's baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.**

Annabeth pulled out the hat and did a demonstration.

"Cool!" Leo exclaimed.

**I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up," I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."**

**Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."**

"**A plan to get me pulverised."**

Everyone looked between Annabeth and Percy and Poseidon and Athena.

"You guys are like miniature versions of them." Aphrodite told Percy and Annabeth. "You even fight the same."

Everyone agreed.

"**I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but…" she shrugged. "You didn't need help."**

**Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"**

"**Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"**

"**No. It **_**was **_**a sword cut. Look at it."**

**The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared. **

"So the water heals you?" Jason asked.

Percy nodded.

"That's so cool." Leo said excitedly.

"Ya, and it comes in handy." Percy told them.

"**I-I don't get it," I said.**

**Annabeth was thinking hard.**

"Which is what she's doing all the time." Katie pointed out.

The other demigods agreed.

**I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."**

"**What-"**

"**Just do it."**

**I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired.**

"And that's the side effect." Percy said.

**My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.**

"**Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is **_**not **_**good. I didn't want…I assumed it would be Zeus…"**

"Hey!" Zeus thundered.

"Sorry Lord Zeus! I just assumed it would be you because of Thalia." Annabeth apologized.

Zeus accepted this answer.

**Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.**

**The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I understood perfectly: **_** "Stand ready! My bow!"**_

**Annabeth drew her sword.**

"The pain must've been getting to your head because, Annabeth fights with a knife." Rachel said.

"Come on, Rachel. Don't blame the pain." Nico said.

Everyone laughed as Percy splashed Nico with water and a bit of seaweed.

"Seaweed? That's a new one." Nico said picking the stuff off his head.

"I try to be original." Percy responded.

**There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.**

The gods gasped. _A hellhound, in camp…?_

**It was looking straight at me.**

Poseidon paled drastically.

**Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"**

"Yes, run!" Poseidon pleaded.

Percy smiled at his dad to reassure him.

**She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her-an enormous shadow with teeth-and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt it's razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.**

Everyone let out a breath they were holding, as some of the colour returned to Poseidon's face.

**By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would have turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.**

**Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.**

"_**Di immortales!"**_** Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't…they're not supposed to…"**

"**Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."**

Everyone who didn't know gasped.

**Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.**

**Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"**

Everyone looked at Clarisse.

"I was pissed." She shrugged.

"**Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.**

**We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared. **

"**You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."**

"**I'm okay."**

The demigods groaned. That's just Percy.

"**No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."**

**I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathered around me.**

**Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.**

"**Look, I-I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize, "I'm sorry…"**

"Why are you apologizing?" Artemis asked a little annoyed.

Percy shrugged.

**But they weren't watching my wounds heal.**

"Huh?" was heard from all around the room.

**They were staring at something above my head.**

The room went quiet.

"You're claiming him." Athena told Poseidon, who was smiling at his son.

"**Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um…"**

**By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.**

"**Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is **_**really**_** not good."**

Athena nodded and smiled at her daughter. She could definitely take care of herself.

"**It is determined," Chiron announced.**

**All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. **

"**My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.**

"**Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."**

"Okay talk about dramatic," Nico said. "I mean was that really necessary?"

"I think it was very fitting." Poseidon said.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Well that's the end of the chapter." Piper said, "Who wants to read next?"

"I guess I will." Grover said.

"**I am Offered a Quest," **he read.


	14. I Am Offered a Quest

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 14: I am Offered a Quest

"**I am Offered a Quest," **he read.

"Oh no," Poseidon whispered.

**The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three.**

**I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toilet tree bag. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.**

"That sounds awesome." Conner said.

The other demigods nodded.

"No, it's really not." Percy said sadly, and Thalia, Nico and Jason agreed with him.

**And I was absolutely miserable.**

**Just when I started to feel accepted, to feel I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid-or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood-I'd been separated out as if I some rare disease.**

**Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back. The attack had scared everybody. I sent two messages: one, that I was the Son of the Sea God; **

Poseidon smiled,

**and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill me. **

then frowned.

**They could even invade a camp that had been always considered safe.**

**The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible.**

The demigods looked down.

**Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so my lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed me harder then ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process.**

"**You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."**

"That seems harsh." Demeter said.

"It's necessary for a child of the Big Three." Athena pointed out.

**Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled me, as if I just poked her between the eyes.**

Athena smiled. _Now that's how she should act toward sea spawn…_

Annabeth rolled her eyes at her mother's smile.

**After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest…Poseidon?...Dirty rotten…Got to make a plan…"**

Athena nodded in approval. That's exactly how she felt around Poseidon.

**Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear that she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear. I wished she would just yell or punch me or something. I'd rather get into fights every day then be ignored.**

"Why didn't you say something? I would have happily done it." Clarisse told him.

Percy rolled his eyes at her.

**I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the **_**New York Daily News**_**, opened to the Metro page. The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page.**

The demigods nodded knowing how that feels.

**BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT**

**BY: EILEEN SMYTHE**

**Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's '78 Camaro was discover last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.**

**Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.**

**Mrs. Jacksons husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.**

**Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.**

The throne room was silent.

"What…a…JERK!" Aphrodite yelled.

The throne room was filled with protests and rage against Gabe.

"I vote we do something." Poseidon said getting up.

"No." Zeus said. "You gave your word that you wouldn't do anything unless he wasn't taken care of at the end of the book."

"Fine." Poseidon grumbled, sitting back down in his throne.

**The phone number was circled in black marker.**

"Who at Camp Half-Blood would do this?" Hestia asked concerned.

The demigods gritted their teeth. They knew exactly would did it.

**I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty cabin. **

"**Lights out," I told myself miserably.**

**That night, I had my worst dream yet.**

**I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.**

"LA." Apollo said like it was obvious.

Everyone in the throne room stared at him speechless.

"What?" he asked.

"How did you know that?" Artemis asked shocked.

Apollo shrugged. "I like sightseeing."

**About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, **

"Me." Zeus said nonchalantly.

**the other in green.**

"Me." Poseidon repeated.

**They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.**

**I had to stop them. I didn't know why. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was running in place, my heels digging uselessly in the sand.**

**Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed on yelling at the green-robed one, **_**Give it back! Give it back! **_**Like a kindergartener fighting over a toy.**

The gods nodded and sighed, they thought that was an accurate description.

**The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt.**

**I yelled, **_**Stop it! Stop fighting!**_

"It's going to take a lot more than that for these two to stop fighting." Hera stated.

**The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice.**

Everyone looked to Hades.

"Come on. Evil?" he said.

"It's him." Athena whispered, but she was not talking about Hades.

"No, it's not." Zeus insisted.

"Father the longer it takes for you to admit it, the worse it gets." Athena tried.

"No, end of discussion." Zeus roared.

No one pushed.

_**Come down, little hero, **_**the voice crooned. **_**Come down!**_

The whole room shivered. That didn't sound good.

**The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down into the center of the earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me.**

**I woke up, sure I was falling.**

**I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that.**

**I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.**

"**Come in?"**

**Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you."**

"**Why?"**

"**He wants to kill…I mean, I'd better let him tell you."**

"Smooth, Grover." Nico told the red goat.

Everyone but Poseidon was laughing. He was too busy glaring at Dionysus.

**Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble. **

**For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House. Now that I was declared the son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime just for me to be alive.**

Hera nodded giving a look to Thalia and Jason.

**The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing,**

"Ya, right. Like Poseidon would ever let anyone touch you." Artemis rolled her eyes, while Poseidon smiled victoriously.

**And now Mr. D was ready to deliver the verdict. **

**Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.**

"**No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to." **

**I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"**

**He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."**

**I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley.**

"Ya, all except that day." Chris said.

**But this storm…this one was huge.**

**At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.**

**Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger stripped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible opponents-two sets of cards hovering in the air.**

"**Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."**

**I waited.**

"Smart move." Annabeth said.

Percy smiled at her and she smiled back.

Aphrodite watched this exchanged excited, she almost had it figured out.

"**Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."**

"Barnacle-beard?" Poseidon asked the wine magazine.

"I got it from Athena." He answered.

Athena smiled, while Poseidon scowled.

**A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.**

"**Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.**

Zeus glared at said god.

**Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.**

"**If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble.**

"Then I guess it's good we don't do things your way." Poseidon spat at Dionysus.

He sank a little in his chair.

**But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."**

"**Spontaneous combustion **_**is **_**a form of harm, Mr. D." Chiron put in.**

"**Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."**

Dionysus got splashed with sea water.

"**Mr. D-" Chiron warned.**

"**Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' card dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."**

**Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass.**

**He snapped his fingers.**

**The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.**

**Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained.**

"**Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."**

**We did.**

**Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.**

Dionysus pouted behind his wine magazine.

"**Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"**

**Just hearing the name made me shudder.**

**Chiron probably wanted me to say, **_**Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast.**_

"How about now?" Leo asked.

"No, but I do have a pet hellhound." Percy said.

The gods stared at him in shock.

"Really?" Hermes asked.

"Ya." All the demigods said in unison.

**But I didn't feel like lying.**

The goddesses smiled.

Artemis was surprised a boy could be so…different.

"**It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."**

"**You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."**

"**Done…with what?"**

"**Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"**

Poseidon shook his head. _Please don't…_

**I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.**

"**Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."**

**Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."**

**Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.**

Cue looks toward two out of three brothers.

"**Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable…something that was stolen, aren't they?"**

**Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.**

**Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"**

**My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. "The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth and she overheard something about a theft. And…I've also been having these dreams."**

"**I knew it," Grover said.**

"**Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.**

"**But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"**

"**Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."**

The throne room was silent, and then all Hades broke lose.

"What?! You stole my lightning bolt?!" Zeus roared at Poseidon.

"I'm positive I did not!" Poseidon yelled back. "We can't steal each other's symbol of power!"

"Then you got your son to do it for you!" Zeus thundered turning toward Percy.

"Father if the demigod took it we would know. The book is in his point of view." Athena interrupted.

Zeus calmed down but took out his master bolt and brought it close. He would kill whoever stole his lightning bolt.

Poseidon rolled his eyes at his brother. "Do you sleep with that thing?"

Zeus was completely shocked. "What? I…no…how…absolutely not!" he stammered.

Everyone was looking at him shocked. Thalia and Jason were looking at him disgusted.

After a long period of silence, Grover continued.

**I laughed nervously. "A **_**what**_**?"**

"My lightning bolt is no laughing matter." Zeus told them.

"**Do not take this lightly,'' Chiron warned. I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends of god-level explosives."**

Zeus nodded dramatically, making his children and brothers roll their eyes.

"**Oh."**

"**Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up know. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are partnered. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titan's, the bolt that sheered off the top of Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."**

Zeus smiled proudly, holding his bolt closer.

"**And it's missing?"**

"**Stolen," Chiron said.**

"**By who?"**

"By whom?" Athena corrected.

The gods rolled their eyes.

"**By **_**whom**_**?" Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher.**

"Tell me about it." Apollo said sarcastically, taking a glance at a scowling Athena.

"**By you."**

**My mouth fell open.**

"Typical Prissy response." Clarisse told everyone.

The demigods nodded, while Percy pouted.

"**At least"-Chiron held up a hand-"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument.**

"When don't they?" Aphrodite asked rolling her eyes.

Ares had a strange light in his eyes.

**The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterword, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. **

"Of course he did." Poseidon muttered under his breath.

**Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly-that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."**

"**But I didn't-"**

"**Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reasons to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. **

Zeus nodded. His future self was thinking logically.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Like I would do that." He muttered.

**The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."**

"That is a logical assumption." Athena said. "If we weren't reading Perseus' thoughts I would say it was him."

Zeus smiled triumphal.

"**But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"**

Zeus sat forward in his throne, and narrowed his eyes at Percy.

"I am not crazy." he stated calmly, surprising most of the other gods. What they didn't know was it was taking all of Zeus' will power not to kill the boy.

Percy nodded even though he was surprised too.

"Continue." Zeus told Grover.

**Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.**

"That's…depressing." Hephaestus noticed,

Percy just shrugged.

"**Er, Percy…?" Grover said. "We don't use the **_**c-**_**word to describe the Lord of the Sky."**

"**Perhaps **_**paranoid.**_**" Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your exam…" He looked at me as if he actually expected me to remember question thirty-eight.**

"Percy? Remember? Ya right." Thalia exclaimed. "That's like Nico being normal."

"Hey!" both cousins said.

Thalia smiled.

**How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted.**

"Come on, Percy, a slice of pizza?" Hermes asked, acting like it was as easy as breathing.

"Sorry, I'll try harder next time." Percy said rolling his eyes.

"That's all I ask." Hermes said.

**Chiron was waiting for an answer.**

"**Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods…they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"**

"**Correct," Chiron said.**

The demigods were shocked.

"You actually…remembered?" Nico said in aww.

"I have my moments." Percy smiled.

"**And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt.**

"Because I didn't." Poseidon stated.

Zeus wasn't so sure. There was too much evidence against Poseidon. If he didn't use Percy maybe he used someone else.

**He took great offence to that accusation.**

"Anyone would." Poseidon said.

**The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along-the proverbial last straw."**

"**But I'm just a kid!"**

"**Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to over throw you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he had took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you…Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"**

"Twist in your toga?" Piper asked snickering.

Everyone was snickering at Grover.

"**But I didn't do anything. Poseidon-my dad-he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?" **

Poseidon was happy that his son did not accuse him of stealing it.

**Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense.**

"Oh the amount of times we tried." Demeter said.

The other two sisters nodded.

**But your arrival has inflamed Zeus' temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"**

"Awesome!" Ares said the same time Athena said, "Terrible!"

Aphrodite slapped Ares.

He backed down, but he still had a glint in his eyes.

"**Bad?" I guessed.**

"No, duh!" Thalia said.

"**Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battle ground so big it would make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."**

Ares was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"**Bad," I repeated.**

The demigods groaned.

"What? It would be bad." Percy defended.

It just made them groan louder.

"**And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."**

Percy shrugged. "What you gonna do?"

The gods were surprised with this reaction, while the demigods smiled. That was Percy.

**It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.**

"That was one weird day." Katie said.

"Ya. Everyone was so surprised." Chris added.

"Sorry guys." Percy said he felt guilty.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault." Thalia said glaring at her dad.

Zeus squirmed at his daughters glare. She was really intimidating when she wanted to be.

_**I **_**had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. **

Zeus wondered how scared he had made this demigod. Scaring him would make his day.

**I was furious.**

"Wait…what?" Zeus said. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid of him. That wasn't possible.

Grover repeated the line.

Percy was getting weird looks; "What?"

"You were angry at him?" Jason questioned, pointing to his stunned father. "Not afraid."

Percy just shrugged. "Ya, I was pissed."

Zeus was thinking of ways he could make sure he would scare Percy.

"**So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said.**

"My bolt is not stupid!" Zeus said.

"Ya, it's your teddy." Poseidon joked.

The throne room erupted with laughter, as the Lord of the Sky turned red.

"**And return it to Zeus." **

"**What better peace offering," Chiron said. "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus' property?"**

Zeus thought about it, then nodded in agreement.

"**If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"**

"**I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago…well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle."**

"Oh, no." Poseidon breathed.

"**Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"**

"**Because if I did, you would be too afraid to except the challenge."**

Poseidon paled drastically.

**I swallowed. "Good reason."**

"**You agree then?"**

**I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly. **

"Easy for you. You don't know how it feels to have some major gods trying to kill you." Nico said.

**Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.**

Some chuckled.

"**All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."**

"Next time get turned into the dolphin. I can just turn you back." Poseidon groaned.

Percy smiled at his dad reassuringly.

"**Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming your still sane, we will talk more." **

"Assuming your sane?" Piper asked.

**Four flights up, the stairs ended with a green trapdoor. **

**I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place. **

**The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else…a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.**

**I held my breath and climbed. **

**The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered I cob webs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE,**

At that name Annabeth burst out laughing, while Percy groaned.

When Percy noticed the others giving them weird looks, he just motioned for Grover to continue.

**and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled **_**things**_**-several hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full mouth of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #I, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.**

**By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy. Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shriveled to a husk.**

The demigods who had seen the old Oracle shivered.

"She wasn't always like that. I don't know why she can't change body's." Apollo wondered, then he noticed Rachel. "Although it seems like we figured it out in the future." He winked at her.

**She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a head band over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time.**

"Okay, I think I like Rachel better." Leo said.

The other demigods nodded.

"You think?" Rachel asked.

"You're way better." Leo said rushed, in a please don't hurt me way.

"Better." Rachel said.

The guys were all snickering at Leo.

**Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trapdoor, but it slammed shut. Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain:**

The demigods all shivered.

_**I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask.**_

Apollo smiled proudly, momentarily blinding everyone.

"You just had to add the Python thing." Artemis rolled her eyes at her brother.

**I wanted to say, **_**No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom. **_

The throne room was filled with laughter.

"This guy is killing me." Hermes tried to say through his laughter.

Apollo nodded.

**But I forced myself to take a deep breath.**

**The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic math teacher Mrs. Dodds or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outside the highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful, and definitely **_**not **_**human. But not particularly interested in killing me, either.**

"That's very observant." Artemis noticed, the other gods nodded.

**I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"**

**The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled-monster part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies.**

Many people gritted their teeth at the name.

**My fist clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of mist. **

**Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: **_**You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.**_

"It was you." Zeus roared pointing at Hades.

Percy and Thalia moved a little closer to Nico, sensing danger.

"Look, wait until the end of the book. If I did steal it you can do whatever you want. But I'm pretty sure there could be more than one god in the west." Hades tried.

Zeus calmed down, thinking about which brother he will punish.

**His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: **_**You shall find what is stolen, and see it safely returned.**_

"Yes!" Zeus shouted jumping up.

Everyone rolled their eyes at him.

**The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: **_**You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.**_

**Finally, Eddie, our building super, delivered the worst line of all: **_**And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.**_

"But didn't it just say he was going to retrieve the lightning bolt?" Zeus asked.

"You idiot," Hera told him "Your lightning bolt is not what matters most to everyone."

Zeus huffed.

**The figure began to dissolve. At first I was to stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"**

**The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos. **

**I got the feeling that I could stand here until I got cobwebs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else.**

Apollo nodded.

**My audience with the Oracle was over.**

"**Well?" Chiron asked me.**

**I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."**

**Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"**

"**What did the Oracle say **_**exactly**_**?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."**

**My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. **

The demigods shivered again.

"**She…she said I would go to the west and face the god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."**

"**I knew it," Grover said.**

"How could you have known it?" Jason asked.

Grover shrugged.

**Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"**

**I didn't want to tell him.**

**What friend would betray me?**

The demigods knew exactly what friend.

**I didn't have that many. **

**And the last line-I would fail to say what mattered most. What king of Orcale would send me on a quest and tell me, **_**Oh, by the way, you'll fail.**_

"The best." Apollo answered.

Artemis slapped him.

**How could I confess that?**

"**No," I said. "That's about it."**

Hestia frowned. This demigod didn't seem like much of a liar. But then she noticed that he only did it because he was scared.

**He studied my face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."**

"Tell me about it." Percy said.

The demigods nodded.

**I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad,**

"Of course he knew. He's Chiron." Annabeth stated.

**and he was trying to make me feel better.**

"**Okay," I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the West?"**

Everyone looked to Hades.

"**Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"**

Cue more glances at Hades.

"**Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.**

"**Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom will grow powerful with the deaths of millions.**

"I don't need any more subjects. The underworld is already overcrowded as it is. And don't get me started on commu-" Hades started.

"Read, Grover." Demeter said over Hades rant.

Hades glared at her.

**Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."**

Poseidon and Zeus looked down.

**I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. "Hades."**

"Innocent until proven guilty." Hades said.

**Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."**

"Not the only." Athena mumbled glancing at Zeus.

**A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"**

"Not so excited now, are you Goat Boy." Travis teased.

Grover blushed.

"**A fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."**

"**Yes, but-but Hades hates **_**all **_**heroes," Grover protested.**

Hades didn't try to go against that. Everyone knew he didn't like heroes.

"**Especially if he found out Percy is a son of Poseidon…."**

"**A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone with in the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."**

"That's pretty logical." Athena said.

Zeus glared at Hades.

"**Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods that want to kill me."**

The demigods burst into laughter.

The gods and Piper, Jason, and Leo, were confused. Gods that wanted to kill you was no laughing matter.

When the demigods saw the confused faces, they stopped laughing.

"Oh, Percy has way more." Annabeth stated.

"Ya, two doesn't even begin to explain all the gods who want to kill Percy." Thalia added.

The gods were completely shocked. _How could this demigod still be alive…_they all thought.

Poseidon was freaking out on the inside. What could his son have possibly done to anger the gods so much?

"**But a quest to…" Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."**

"Maine?" Persephone questioned.

"Better than the underworld." Grover answered. Then he realized who he was talking to and quickly said, "No offense."

"None taken." She replied with a smile.

Demeter was mumbling under her breath about idiot and her poor daughter.

"**Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."**

"So nephew how terrified were you?" Hades wanted some good new to cheer him up. Nothing made him feel as good as terrifying demigods. He also wanted to show Zeus how it was done.

Jason, Leo and Piper thought it would be perfectly fine to be scared, no demigod made it out alive, no one ever survived the Underworld. He should be scared.

Percy just motioned for Chris to keep reading.

**A strange fire burned in my stomach.**

Hades smiled brightly, and smugly.

**The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear.**

"What?!"

Percy shrugged. "I wasn't afraid." yet.

Everyone was shocked, even the demigods who knew Percy best. Anyone in there right mind would be scared.

**It was anticipation. The desire for revenge.**

"What?!" Hades said again.

"There is something wrong with this child." Zeus said in agreement.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed. "I am sitting right here."

"Brothers, just because you can't scare my son, doesn't mean that there is something wrong with him." Poseidon said smugly.

"No there has to be something wrong with him." Hades said ignoring his brother.

"Where you dropped as a child?" Zeus questioned.

"What scares you?" Hades asked.

All eyes were on Percy.

"First of all, there is nothing wrong with me, you two just weren't that scary." Percy defended.

Zeus and Hades were trying to think of ways to scare this demigod.

**Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the hellhound. It was his fault my mother disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed.**

**I was ready to take him on.**

Everyone just stared at Percy shocked, everyone but Poseidon, who was beaming with pride.

**Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld…**

Poseidon glared at Hades. _He better release her…_

_And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end…_was echoing in Athena's head. He eyes opened wide. _No…_she thought. What mattered most to this demigod was helping his mother, and he would fail to do so. Athena looked at Percy sadly.

**Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane.**

"Wow, that part does exist." Thalia joked.

Percy half-heartedly glared at her and Nico who were laughing, the others trying their hardest not to.

**You're a kid. Hades is a god.**

"That didn't seem to matter, later." Nico whispered to Percy.

Percy smiled smugly.

**Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.**

Dionysus glared at Grover, who was blushing.

**The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get hi searcher's license, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail? This was suicide.**

Poseidon paled. How could his son make it to the Underworld and get out alive at the age of twelve?

"**Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld to bust some heads."**

"Wow, Percy. You really know how to lighten the mood." Hermes said while laughing.

Everyone in the throne room nodded, while Percy smiled.

"**Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades-and I imagine Poseidon does-**

Poseidon nodded, making Hades scowl.

**they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as their bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"**

"**You're saying I'm being used."**

Poseidon looked at Percy with worry, to see that Percy was doing everything he could to not catch his eye. He looked down. _I never meant to, Percy…_

"**I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."**

**My dad needs me.**

Poseidon smiled, thankful that Percy didn't take it the wrong way.

**Emotion rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. **

_Like Piper's eyes…_Jason thought. _Whoa, where did that come from…?_

Aphrodite suddenly sat up in her throne. She was feeling a huge wave of love, but before she could pinpoint it, it was gone.

**I didn't know whether to be resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now he suddenly needed me. **

Poseidon looked down.

"Do you all feel this way?" Athena asked.

The demigods didn't answer, but they were squirming uncomfortably under their parents looks.

The gods with children looked down.

**I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"**

"**I had my suspicions. As I said…I've spoken to the Oracle, too."**

**I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy,**

"Are you kidding, a lot doesn't even begin to describe it." Thalia stated.

Percy nodded.

**But I decided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too.**

"**So let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed to go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."**

"**Check," Chiron said.**

"**Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."**

"**Check."**

"**And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."**

"**That's about right."**

"Dude, that must have been really hard to accept." Chris said.

Percy nodded.

**I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.**

Dionysus glared at Grover again.

"**Did I mention Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.**

"**You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you."**

Grover smiled.

"**Oh…" He shifted his hooves. "No…it's just that satyrs and underground places…well…"**

**He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If…if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."**

"Thanks man." Percy said.

Grover smiled.

**I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic. Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for more than a few months. **

"Not..one..word." Percy told the Stolls.

They quickly closed their mouths.

**I wasn't sure what good a satyr would do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.**

"**All the way, G-man," I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."**

"**The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America."**

"Why won't anyone give straight answers anymore?" Leo asked loudly.

"Welcome to my life." Percy said.

"**Where?"**

**Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."**

"And how is that obvious?" Travis asked.

Everyone just shrugged.

"**Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane-"**

"NO!" Poseidon yelled.

"Gods man, you want to give your father a heart attack?" Hermes asked.

Percy smiled sheepishly at his dad.

"**No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking?**

"What kind of question is that, Grover? We all know Percy never thinks at all." Nico said.

The demigods all laughed, while Percy glared at Nico.

**Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"**

**I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money.**

"Or she was trying to protect you." Rachel pointed out.

Percy smiled.

**Besides, her parents had died in a plane crash.**

Cue angry looks at Zeus.

"**Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an air plane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."**

Zeus grinned.

"Why do you have to do that?" Thalia asked.

"What?" Zeus questioned.

"Shoot him out of the sky, just because he's Poseidon's son."

"It's my domain, and it's complicated."

Hades nodded in agreement.

"Well, I've been in the ocean with the hunters and nothing has happened with me." Thalia stated.

"Ya. I've had some trouble with shadow traveling and ended up in the ocean." Nico told them.

Poseidon was smiling smugly at his brothers.

**Overhead, lightning cracked. Thunder boomed.**

The room rolled their eyes. _He so dramatic…_

"**Okay," I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland."**

"**That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other already has volunteered, if you will accept her help."**

_Her…?_ Athena thought.

"**Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"**

Athena got the feeling she knew who. She looked over to her daughter, who was avoiding her gaze.

_Oh no…_

**The air shimmered behind Chiron.**

**Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.**

"How long were you there for?" Katie asked.

"Since when he got back from seeing the Oracle." Annabeth answered.

"**I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said.**

"And there goes the first nickname…" Thalia started.

"**Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."**

"**If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"**

"…and there goes the second." Nico finished.

Percy and Annabeth were blushing.

**Her cheeks coloured. "Do you want my help or not?"**

**The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get.**

"**A trio," I said. "That'll work."**

"Hey, that's like us." Leo whispered to Piper and Jason.

They all smiled.

"**Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."**

**Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather. **

"**No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."**

"That's it." Grover said closing the book.

"I think I will read." Poseidon said taking the book and turning to the right page.

"**I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus," **he read.


	15. I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 15: I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus

"**I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus," **Poseidon read.

"You don't seem to have a good streak with buses." Athena noticed.

Percy smiled sheepishly.

**It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover found me.**

**The camp store loaned me a hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. **

"Wait, the camp store just _gave_ you money?" Conner asked.

Percy nodded. "But I doubt they would give you some."

Conner and Travis pouted.

**These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never use less than pure gold. **

"Which I don't get, considering silver is better." Artemis mumbled under her breath.

**Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions-whatever that meant. He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.**

**Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. **

Athena and Annabeth exchanged smiles.

**She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, **

"When would you have time to read on a quest?" Jason asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Actually, I read a lot on that quest."

**and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.**

The throne room groaned.

"I didn't know yet." Percy defended.

"When would you go through a metal detector anyways?" Thalia asked sounding defeated.

"It's happened." Percy told her.

**Grover wore his fake feet and pants to past as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no.12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.**

The demigods nodded their heads enthusiastically.

Grover pouted. "Such great friends I have." He muttered.

**We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.**

"Why do you have to introduce me as daughter of Zeus?" Thalia asked Percy.

Percy just shrugged.

"Is there something wrong with being my daughter?" Zeus asked a little hurt.

Thalia started whistling like no one said anything or was paying attention to her, making the demigods snicker.

**Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.**

"**This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."**

"Terrible pun, Chiron." Apollo said shaking his head.

Hermes, The Stolls, and Leo nodded their heads in agreement.

**I heard footsteps behind us.**

**Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.**

Grover shivered at the mention of those shoes.

"**Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."**

**Annabeth blushed,**

"I DID NOT!" Annabeth screamed at Percy.

**the way she always did when Luke was around.**

The demigods were snickering, while Annabeth was giving Percy a death glare.

"**I just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought…um, maybe you could use these."**

**He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal.**

The girls wrinkled their noses in disgust.

**Luke said, "**_**Maia!"**_

Hermes shot out of his throne. "Maia." He said, and came back down calmly.

The gods burst out laughing.

"Your key word is your mother's name." Apollo laughed.

Hermes turned red.

**White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.**

"**Awesome!" Grover said.**

"I agree, that's totally sick." Leo stated.

Hermes smiled.

**Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. **

Hermes smiled, bigger.

**Of course, I don't see them much these days…"**

"I don't get why, me and Travis used to use them all the time." Conner said. "Right Travis?"

"Ya." Travis agreed.

"Why don't you anymore?" Hermes asked.

"Well Chiron and Mr. D didn't appreciate the paint job we did on the Big House roof." Travis declared.

The demigods were rolling on the floor laughing, remembering the paint job.

**His expression turned sad.**

**I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say good-bye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention the last few days. But here he was giving me a magic gift….it made me bush almost as much as Annabeth.**

Cue more snickering and glaring.

"**Hey, man," I said. "Thanks."**

"**Listen, Percy…" Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just…kill some monsters for me, okay?"**

**We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between the horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.**

The demigods couldn't take it anymore, they burst out laughing.

Annabeth was glaring at Percy so hard, that he scooted over a few feet away from her.

**After Luke was gone, I told her, "Your hyperventilating."**

The demigods were rolling on the floor and wiping away tears they were laughing so hard.

Annabeth was ready to lunge at Percy.

"**Am not."**

"**You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"**

"**Oh…why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"**

"I've been asking myself that question, since you volunteered for this quest." Athena sighed.

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other. It's not going to be easy to convince them.

**She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys.**

**I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"**

"Not unless you want to get killed." Zeus muttered quietly, but Thalia heard him. She was glaring so fiercely that Zeus cowered in his throne.

**He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air…that would not be wise for you."**

**I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"**

"Sorry." Percy whispered to Grover.

"It's not your fault." Grover whispered back.

**His eyes lit up. "Me?"**

Hestia smiled. This demigod was very caring and kind.

**Pretty soon we laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.**

"Where do you come up with these things?" Hermes asked wiping away tears.

Apollo nodded through his laughter.

"_**Maia!**_**" he shouted.**

"Maia!"

**He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.**

"**Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"**

"**Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, **

"Really?" the girls all asked as the guys were dying of laughter.

"Boys!" Artemis grumbled.

**heading toward the van.**

**Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason-they all got more training."**

"**That's okay. I just wish-"**

**I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat.**

"All demigods are brats." Dionysus said behind his wine magazine.

Everyone but Hera rolled their eyes at him. Hera agreed.

**I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good as Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.**

_Why isn't Chiron giving him the gift…_Poseidon thought. _I gave it to him ages ago…_he didn't want his son hating him more.

"**What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."**

**He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably costs thirty cents.**

Poseidon and Percy smiled.

"**Gee," I said. "Thanks."**

"**Percy, that a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me know. You are the one."**

**I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that had turned into a sword. Could this be…?**

**I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand.**

"That is so cool." Leo exclaimed.

"It is." Percy said bringing out said pen.

"**The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," **

Percy and Artemis looked down at the thought of Zoe and how she got hurt.

**Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."**

"'**Riptide'," I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily. **

"**Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary,**

"Ya, Percy." Rachel said.

"It was an accident." Percy defended.

Rachel went to muttering curses under her breath, and glaring at Percy.

"You used it on Rachel?" Annabeth laughed.

"I'm pretty sure it will explain." Percy sighed, shifting uneasily under Rachel's glare.

**of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."**

"Good thing to." Rachel muttered.

Percy smiled sheepishly.

**I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"**

"**The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the river Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. **

"Still isn't the best feeling." Rachel shivered.

**They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill.**

"What?!" Rachel screamed jumping up.

"Calm down Rachel." Percy said. "You're important to us."

The demigods nodded.

"Ya, and you're my Oracle which makes you awesome by my standards." Apollo said grinning.

"Fine." Rachel sat back down.

Aphrodite was thinking about how sweet Percy was toward Rachel.

**And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."**

"**Good to know."**

"**Now recap the pen."**

**I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank into a ballpoint pen gain. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, I was famous for losing pens at school.**

"Tell me about it." Rachel said.

"How would you know?" Piper asked.

"I was in his class for a year, before my dad made me go to that stupid prep school." Rachel said. "And I swear every day he would ask for a new one."

Percy blushed then nodded.

"**You can't," Chiron said.**

"**Can't what?"**

"**Lose the pen," he said. "It's enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it." **

Piper, Jason, and Leos's eyes widened.

**I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched in disappear in the grass. **

"**It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket." **

**Sure enough, the pen was there.**

Piper, Jason, and Leo were gaping at the pen in Percy's hand.

"That is so cool." Leo said quietly.

"Ya, and it comes in handy too." Percy told them.

The other demigods nodded.

"**Okay, that's **_**extremely **_**cool," I admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"**

"The mist is a very powerful thing." Athena said, somewhat in aww.

The others gods agreed.

**Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."**

"**Mist?"**

"**Yes. Read **_**The Iliad.**_

"Like he's going to do that?" Thalia snorted.

"Who has read the Iliad?" Percy defended.

Only Annabeth raised her hand.

"See." Percy told them.

**It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. **

"Unless your Rachel." Chris stated.

Rachel smiled.

**You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their vision of reality."**

**I put Riptide back in my pocket.**

**For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Hall-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.) **

"Of course." Athena stated.

Everyone looked at her weird, except for Annabeth.

"What?" she finally said, and they turned back to the book.

**I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.**

Poseidon started Hyperventilating again.

"**Chiron…" I said. "When you say the gods are immortal…I mean, there was a time **_**before**_** them, right?"**

"Why would you ask that?" Zeus pondered.

"He probably wants to know what will happen if he fails." Athena couldn't help but answer.

"**Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western Civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age." **

Zeus had a smug look on his face, making his brothers roll their eyes at him.

"**So what was it like…before the gods?"**

**Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a cheap source of entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."**

"Wow, Chiron knows how to lecture." Apollo mumbled half asleep, along with Hermes, the Stolls, and Leo.

The girls rolled their eyes as the guys agreed with Apollo.

"**But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So…even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up **_**everything**_**, right?"**

**Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how the long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. **_**They**_** still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."**

"Not the best encouragement." Percy smiled.

"Man, does Chiron go on like this all the time." Hermes rolled his eyes at the book.

The demigods nodded.

"**Our destiny…assuming we know what it is."**

"**Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."**

"Ya, he's going to relax after you told him that." Nico said sarcastically.

"**Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed."**

**When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus,**

Thalia glared at Percy, who just rolled his eyes and smiled at her.

**Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur.**

"Could you be more sarcastic?" Rachel asked.

Percy smiled.

**Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy. I found myself staring at every McDonald's, **

The guys stomachs grumbled.

"When's dinner?" Leo asked.

"I guess we can have dinner after this chapter." Athena answered.

Everyone nodded.

**every kid in the back of his' parents car, every billboard and shopping mall.**

"**So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."**

"You just jinxed it." Katie sighed.

"Tell me about it." Annabeth rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

**She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."**

"**Remind me again-why do you hate me so much?"**

The demigods snorted, and Percy and Annabeth blushed.

"**I don't hate you."**

"**Could've fooled me."**

**She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look…we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."**

"**Why?"**

**She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon and his girlfriends in Athena's temple, which is **_**hugely **_**disrespectful.**

"Yes it is." Athena confirmed and crossed her arms.

"Get over it." Poseidon shot back at her.

She was about to say something, but she was cut off by Zeus.

"Enough! Continue, brother." He said.

Poseidon hesitated but continued.

**Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god of Athens. Our dad created some stupid salt water spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."**

Athena beamed with pride, while Poseidon huffed. _Olives…Athena…disgusting…_

"**They must really like olives."**

"**Oh, forget it."**

"**Now, if she'd invented pizza-**_**that**_** I could understand."**

"I'm with you on that one." Apollo said laughing.

Poseidon beamed at his son. Making Athena's accomplishments seem stupid was his favourite past time.

"**I said, forget it!"**

**In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye at the back of his neck winked at me.**

**Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain.**

**Argus dropped us at the Greyhound station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: **_**HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?**_

**I ripped it down before Annabeth or Grover could notice.**

"We noticed, we just thought you didn't want to talk about it." Grover told him.

"Thanks." Percy said sincerely.

**Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot. **

**I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. **

Percy and Poseidon smiled weakly.

**Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.**

At that the whole room was filled with glares, and mumbled curses.

**Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking. "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"**

Everyone leaned forward in their seats with curiosity.

**I stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or something?" **

"**Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"**

**I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgotten to tell me?"**

Everyone looked at Grover curiously.

"Not much." Grover shrugged.

"**Your mom married Gabe for **_**you," **_**Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly', but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura….Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week." **

"**Thanks," I said. "Where's the nearest shower?"**

Some laughed, but almost everyone was too grossed out to do anything.

"**You should be grateful, Percy. Your step father smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. **

The room was quiet as the words finally sunk in. The gods couldn't believe how strong Sally was, while the demigods knew that it sounded exactly like something she would do.

"This woman is truly remarkable." Athena broke the silence.

Artemis nodded. "She is a strong woman if she put up with that just to protect her son."

Poseidon was torn between emotions. He was feeling hurt, pride, regret, love, sadness, anger and frustration, all at the same time.

**She was a smart lady.**

Everyone agreed.

**She must have loved you a lot to put up with that guy-if that makes you feel any better."**

"It didn't." Percy mumbled.

**It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it. I'll see her again, I thought. She isn't gone.**

No one commented.

**I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were. I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I said yes to this crazy quest.**

**The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, **

Poseidon and Hades were trying and failing to disguise their chuckles as coughs, while Zeus glared at Percy.

"I'm really starting to hate you." Zeus said, clearly annoyed.

"Ehh, nothing new there." Percy shrugged.

The demigods nodded thoughtfully.

**or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble.**

Poseidon frowned.

**The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check. He only claimed me because he needed a job done.**

Poseidon suddenly became very interested in his shoes, as the demigods were trying to look everywhere but their parents, making the gods and goddesses guilty too.

**All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back.**

Poseidon stopped reading for a moment to glare at Hades, who sunk down in his throne.

_**You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, **_**the Oracle whispered in my mind. **_**You will fail to save what matters most in the end.**_

_**Shut up, **_**I told it.**

"Because that's sane." Nico pointed out making Thalia, Grover, Annabeth and Rachel chuckle.

"Shut up, that voice was creepy." Percy told him.

_Like this…?_ A voice whispered in Percy's head making him jump.

"Don't do that, Rachel!" Percy yelled, making his friends burst out laughing.

**The rain kept coming down.**

**We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. I wasn't too bad myself.**

**The game ended when a tossed the apple toward Grover and it got to close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared-core, steam, and all.**

Everyone burst out laughing at the red satyr.

**Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up.**

**Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favourite school cafeteria delicacy-enchiladas. **

"**What is it?" I asked. **

"**I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."**

"Something tells me it's not." Katie said.

"Knowing Percy's luck, you're probably right." Thalia pointed out.

Percy didn't bother arguing.

**But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too.**

"You should really pay more attention to your instincts." Athena told them, "It could be the difference between life and death."

**I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together at the back of the bus. We stowed our backpacks. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.**

**As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand on my knee, **

"Oooo la-owwww owwww." Travis went from mocking to groaning in pain. Annabeth had punched him hard in the arm.

Athena smiled proudly at her daughter.

"**Percy."**

**An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.**

"Was she that pretty?" Conner said jokingly earning a punch from Percy.

The demigods grinned at the Stolls.

**It was Ms. Dodds.**

"No." The throne room breathed.

**Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.**

**I scrunched down in my seat.**

**Behind her came two more old ladies:**

"Seriously!" Poseidon yelled and glared and Hades. He was joined by Athena who was also worried for her daughter's safety.

**one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Ms. Dodds-same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.**

At that, Nico, Conner, Travis and Leo burst out laughing. The rest of the guys were snickering as the girls glared at them.

**They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. it was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.**

Poseidon paled and Athena kept sending worried looks to her daughter.

**The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."**

"**I said if you're **_**lucky**_**,"**

"Which you're not." Annabeth interjected.

**Annabeth said. "You're obviously not."**

"**All three of them," Grover whimpered. **_**"Di immortales!"**_

"**It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard.**

"Like always." Thalia smiled and rolled her eyes.

Athena smiled proudly.

"**The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem.**

"Ya because that's definitely not a problem." Poseidon snapped.

"It's okay we're alive dad." Percy said motioning to Annabeth, Grover and himself.

Poseidon calmed down a little.

**We'll just slip out the windows."**

"**They don't open," Grover moaned.**

"What?" Hephaestus said.

"**A back exit?" she suggested.**

**There wasn't one.**

"Again, what? What kind of design is that?" Hephaestus asked.

**Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.**

Athena, Poseidon and surprisingly Dionysus paled.

"**They won't attack us with witnesses around," I said.**

"I don't think and audience will bother them." Hades said a little to perky. Poseidon and Athena gave him death glares.

"**Will they?"**

"**Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded me.**

Rachel turned to Annabeth.

"Not all mortals have good eyes." Annabeth corrected.

Rachel turned back toward the book.

"**Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."**

"**They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"**

Some chuckled at that, but the tension was too thick.

**She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof…?"**

**We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.**

**Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the restroom."**

"**So do I," said the second sister.**

"**So do I," said the third sister.**

"Isn't that a little suspicious?" Demeter noticed.

"Hey don't judge. Maybe they need to help each other." Travis said matter-of-factly.

"Ewww." All the girls scrunched their noses, while the boys were doubled over laughing.

**They all started coming down the aisle.**

Athena and Poseidon paled drastically.

"**I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."**

"What?" the demigods said astonished. Annabeth never let that hat out of her sight.

"**What?"**

"**You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."**

Poseidon was very happy with this plan, but Athena was looking at her daughter worriedly.

"You really thought he was going to leave you guys." Thalia asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well we didn't really know each other, so ya." Annabeth answered.

The gods were confused by this encounter.

"**But you guys-"**

"**There's an outside chance that they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be over powering."**

Athena nodded at this assumption, though she was still worried.

"**I can't just leave you."**

The demigods smiled, while the gods looked at Percy curiously.

"**Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"**

**My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put it on.**

The demigods were frozen. That didn't sound like something Percy would do.

Athena glared at Percy. _How could he leave my daughter to die?_ She thought.

**When I looked down, my body wasn't there anymore. **

**I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into an empty seat just as the Furies walked past. **

**Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at me.**

Poseidon paled even more but continued reading.

**My heart was pounding.**

Everyone leaned forward.

**Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going.**

**I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to push the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row.**

Everyone caught their breath, and Athena looked like she was going to pass out.

**The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same-I guess those couldn't get any uglier-**

Some smiled a little, but they were too into the story to do more.

**but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.**

**The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth,**

Cue worried glances at the two mentioned.

**lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"**

"It?" Athena questioned, momentarily coming out of her worry.

Most shrugged.

**The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw **_**something**_**, all right.**

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Thalia said clearly annoyed.

Percy just shrugged.

"**He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"**

**The Furies raised their whips.**

**Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.**

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the greatest weapon of them all. The amazing, tin cans of death!" Conner said dramatically.

Rachel smacked his head hard.

"Ow! Seriously you could take out a pro wrestler girl." He said rubbing the back of his head.

Rachel smiled with satisfaction, as Artemis smiled at her. _She would've been a great part of the hunt._ She thought.

**What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year.**

"Really?" Jason asked.

"Definitely." Percy, Annabeth and Grover answered.

Everyone suddenly became very curious to what he did.

**The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror.**

**Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left.**

Everyone sat there in a stunned silence.

**Everyone howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.**

"Awesome!" Apollo exclaimed high fiving Percy.

Everyone else was too shocked to say anything.

"**Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey-whoa!" **

**We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us.**

**We careened out of Lincoln Tunnel and into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.**

**Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river.**

Poseidon let out a mental sigh of relief. _At least Percy will be safe. _He thought.

Athena seemed to understand what he was thinking and glared at him fiercely.

**Another great idea:**

Everyone moaned.

"Oh like the first one didn't work." Percy pointed out.

Everyone mumbled in agreement.

**I hit the emergency break.**

**The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees.**

Thalia clapped sarcastically. "Brilliant." She mocked.

Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

**The emergency lights can on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as the stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.**

**The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.**

"The ultimate weapon." Conner said obviously not learning his lesson from the first time. Rachel hit him again.

"Ow! Seriously, I think you did some brain damage." He yelled.

"Oh please, as if there was a brain to damage." She retorted.

"Ooooooo, you just got served!" Travis, Apollo, and Hermes said, while everyone else laughed.

**I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, **

_Please go._ Poseidon pleaded.

**but I couldn't leave my friends.**

Athena thought about this. _Hmm…_

**I took of the invisible cap. "Hey!"**

_Great! _Poseidon paled.

**The Furies turned, barring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea.**

A few chuckled at this.

**Mrs. Dodds walked up the aisle, just as she used to in class, about to deliver my F- math test.**

Athena looked at Percy in disgust.

**Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.**

Hades grinned madly.

**Her two ugly sisters hoped on tops of the seats either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards.**

"**Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."**

"**I liked you better as a math teacher," I told her.**

**She growled.**

**Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.**

Athena nodded in approval.

**I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword.**

**The Furies hesitated.**

Everyone became confused. The Furies never hesitate.

**Mrs. Dodds had felt riptides blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again.**

Everyone nodded thinking that made sense.

"**Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer internal torment."**

Poseidon stuttered that line out, but no one noticed.

"**Nice try," I told her.**

"**Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried.**

**Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on either side lunged at me.**

Everyone leaned forward not being able to take the suspense.

**My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Riptide. I stuck Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands. **

"Not bad, punk." Ares acknowledged.

"Not bad? That was amazing." Apollo said, the other gods and demigods nodding in agreement.

"**Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"**

"What did you think it was going to feel like?" Thalia questioned laughing.

Grover blushed and shrugged.

**The Fury I hit-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata.**

**Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's tied up in her own whip. Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.**

Everyone stared in aww at Percy, Grover and Annabeth. It's not every day that two twelve-year-old demigods and a satyr defeat all three Furies.

"**Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"**

"Well seeing as I'm still here…" Percy pointed out. "…I guess that never happened."

"Good thing too." Katie said, making the others nod in agreement.

Percy smiled.

"_**Braccas meas vescimini!" **_**I yelled.**

Jason laughed, making everyone give him strange looks.

"Continue" Percy said with a smile, knowing why Jason was laughing.

**I wasn't sure were the Latin came from. I think it meant "Eat my pants!"**

The whole throne room joined Jason.

**Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck.**

"**Get out!" Annabeth yelled at me. "Now!" I didn't need any encouragement.**

**We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could recap my sword.**

"Well isn't that perfect?" Poseidon said sarcastically.

"**Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our-"**

_**BOOOOOM!**_

**The windows on the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof,**

"Lightning?" Poseidon said angrily through clenched teeth. "You tried to kill my son."

"And my daughter." Athena added just as angry as Poseidon.

Zeus shrunk down in his throne. When Poseidon and Athena were mad they could get pretty scary.

**but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.**

"**Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"**

"I didn't know you spoke Fury, Annabeth." Travis mocked.

"It doesn't take a child of Athena to realize what she was doing." Annabeth answered.

Athena nodded at the logic.

**We plunged into the woods as rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead.**

"Oooooooo," Travis and Conner sang.

"Well that's it." Poseidon said closing the book.

"Let's have some dinner, shall we." Athena asked.

Everyone nodded and headed out of the throne room.


	16. Dinner

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 16: Dinner

As soon as everyone entered the throne room they all split up into different conversations.

Athena was talking to Artemis when she noticed Aphrodite looking at the demigods with a huge smile on her face. She pointed it out to Artemis, and together they went over to see what was going on.

It seemed like they weren't the only ones with this idea because when they looked over Apollo and Hermes were walking toward Aphrodite too.

"Hey Aph, what's up?" Apollo started.

"There are so many couples in this very room. It's so romantic." Aphrodite squealed.

Artemis groaned.

"What do you mean?" Athena asked.

"The demigods. There's so much love in the air I'm getting dizzy." She sighed.

Hermes looked as confused as I felt.

"Don't you think they would have done something if there were that many couples?"

"Maybe they are afraid what their parents would say." Aphrodite countered.

"Makes sense." Artemis joined.

"Well that could be right but you have no proof." Athena stated.

"Oh don't worry I'll get proof. When we finish reading today I'll show you all." Aphrodite squealed happily then ran off.

"Why do I feel scared of what she might do?" Apollo asked.

"I don't know but I am too." Athena said watching Aphrodite run off.

When everyone was done eating, they gathered in the throne room again.

"Who would like to read?" Poseidon asked holding out the book.

"I will." Thalia said getting up to get the book from her uncle.

"**We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium," **she read.


	17. We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 17: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

"**We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium," **Thalia read.

**In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there,**

"Hey, he likes us." Apollo said excitedly.

**because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong.**

"Or not.' Apollo said while the demigods nodded.

**For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force is trying to mess up your day.**

At this the demigods nodded enthusiastically while the gods pouted.

**So there we were, Annabeth and Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses.**

The girls all wrinkled their noses.

_I really should clean that river…_Poseidon thought.

**Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."**

Cue angry looks at Hades.

**I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of the bus windows still ringing in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling us along,**

"Of course she did." Nico stated. Receiving a glare from said daughter of Athena.

**saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."**

"**All our money was back there," I reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."**

"**Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight-"**

"Are you seriously blaming him for saving your life?" Piper asked.

Annabeth just shrugged.

"**What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"**

"**You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."**

"Ya just perfect." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"**Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."**

"**Shut up, goat boy." said Annabeth.**

**Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans…a perfectly good bag of tin cans."**

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"You really need to get your priorities straight." Persephone spoke up.

Grover blushed.

**We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.**

The girls wrinkled their noses.

"Can you stop with the descriptions?" Aphrodite asked a little green.

"Sorry the next time someone decides to write my thoughts I'll leave them out." Percy said sarcastically.

"That's all we ask." Aphrodite answered.

**After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to me. "Look, I…" Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."**

Hestia smiled, they were very loyal friends.

"**We're a team, right?"**

"Sadly." Athena mumbled under her breath.

**She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died…aside from the fact that that would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."**

"Nice to know I mean so much to you." Percy smiled at Annabeth. They intertwined hands secretly.

Athena smiled proudly at her daughter. _She knows what she's doing._

**The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Annabeth except the glint of her blonde hair.**

At this the Stolls turned toward Percy and started wiggling their eyebrows. Percy pulled out Riptide and started twirling it between his fingers. The Stolls froze watching Riptide go round and round.

Percy laughed lightly and put it back in his pocket.

"**You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her.**

"**No…only short field trips. My dad-"**

Athena flinched remembering what happened between the two.

"**The history professor."**

"**Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, camp Hal-blood **_**is **_**my home." She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. **

"It felt good to finally get it out." Annabeth said quietly, but everyone heard her.

"**At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn if you're any good or not."**

**If I didn't know better, I could've sworn I heard doubt in her voice.**

Annabeth shook her head. _How could he catch that but not all the hints I was leaving him?_

"**You're pretty good with that knife," I said.**

"**You think so?"**

"**Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me."**

The demigods laughed. Classic Percy.

**I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled.**

"Annabeth? Smile? Never!" Conner said dramatically.

Annabeth glared while Katie hit him.

"Ow! Why do you guys always do that?" he asked her.

"Because you're ANOYING!" she replied.

Conner and Travis pouted.

"**You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you…Something funny back on the bus…"**

**Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill **_**toot-toot-toot, **_**like the sound of an owl being tortured.**

"Huh?" was echoed through the throne room.

"**Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried.**

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Oh, that explains it." Thalia managed through her laughter, holding on to Nico to support her.

Grover blushed deep red.

"**If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of the woods!"**

**He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff. **

A few were trying, and failing, to hide their chuckles, making Grover blush more.

**Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on my head.**

They couldn't take it anymore, they burst out laughing.

"Ya, Percy gets hurt. Very funny." Percy grumbled sarcastically.

"Glad you agree." Nico said tears coming out of his eyes from laughing so hard.

**Add to the list of super powers I do **_**not**_** have: infrared vision.**

**After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colours of a neon sign. I could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food.**

Demeter looked sick while everyone else had a dreamy expression on their faces.

**I realized I hadn't eaten anything un-healthy since I arrived at Half-Blood Hill, were we lived on grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbeque. This boy needed a double cheeseburger. **

"So does this one." Every boy in the throne room said.

The girls rolled their eyes at them muttering, Boys.

**We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-way road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and good smell.**

**It wasn't a fast-food restaurant like I hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary.**

**The neon sign above the gate was impossible for me to read, because if there's anything worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English.**

The demigods nodded in agreement. There was nothing worse than glowing red cursive.

**To me, it looked like: **ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.

"What?"

"Man, that was hard to say." Thalia said, then continued.

"**What the heck does that say?" I asked.**

"**I don't know," Annabeth said.**

**She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too.**

"It's hard to imagine the Athena cabin is dyslexic." Jason pointed out.

Athena and Annabeth smiled proudly.

**Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."**

Persephone and Hades turned toward each other eyes wide.

_No_ Persephone thought, _how could they have met Medusa and gotten out alive?_

**Flaking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.**

Percy, Annabeth and Grover, shivered at the memory, but no one seemed to notice.

**I crossed the street, following the smell of hamburgers.**

_Of course, _Artemis thought _food is all guys care about._

"**Hey…" Grover warned.**

"**The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."**

"**Snack bar," I said wistfully.**

"**Snack bar," she agreed.**

"**Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."**

**We ignored him.**

Athena frowned. You always should follow your instincts.

**The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.**

"_**Bla-ha-ha!"**_** he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"**

_Hmm…_Athena thought, trying to figure out where they were.

**We stopped at the warehouse door.**

"**Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."**

"**Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him.**

Everyone was shocked and turned toward Annabeth.

"You were in a trance, weren't you?" Athena said thinking hard.

Annabeth, Percy and Grover nodded.

"**All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"**

"**Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."**

"**You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him.**

"**Those are vegetables.**

"No they're not." Demeter interjected.

"Whatever." Grover huffed and crossed his arms.

**Come on. Let's leave. These statues are…looking at me."**

Athena's mind was racing.

**The door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman-at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind the curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-coloured hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined that she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.**

Right then and there something clicked in Athena's mind. M, statues, old lady, Uncle Ferdinand. They met Medusa.

Poseidon noticed Athena tensed and caught her eye. Then he realized who this lady was. _Oh no!_

Unaware of anything, Thalia kept reading.

**Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"**

"**They're…um…" Annabeth started to say.**

"**We're orphans," I said.**

"**Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!" **

"**We got separated from our caravan," I said. "Our circus cavern.**

The demigods burst out laughing.

"Percy, Percy, Percy," Hermes said shaking his head. "You should really learn how to lie."

Percy smiled.

**The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"**

"Couldn't be any more subtle, Percy?" Rachel joked.

Percy smiled sheepishly.

"**Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em.** **Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."**

**We thanked her and went inside. **

**Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?"**

"**Always have a strategy, right?"**

"It was a stupid strategy." Athena told him.

"Well, it was better than blanking out like your daughter." Poseidon retorted.

Athena and Annabeth blushed, while Poseidon and Percy smiled smugly.

"**Your head is full of kelp."**

"I've been telling his father that for centuries." Athena interrupted.

**The warehouse was filled with more statues-people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size.**

Thalia stopped, putting the pieces together. Then she suddenly gasped. "You guys met Medusa!"

Everyone who didn't figure it out gasped, looking at the three in shock.

Percy motioned for Thalia to continue.

**But mostly, I was thinking about food.**

_Like all men. _Artemis rolled her eyes.

**Go ahead, call me an idiot **

"You're an idiot!" Everyone but Poseidon and Percy yelled.

**for walking into a strange lady's shop just because I was hungry, but I do impulsive stuff sometimes. Plus, you've never smelt Aunty Em's burgers. The aroma was like laughing gas in the dentist's chair-it made everything else go away.**

"Your definitely under a trance." Hera said.

**I barely noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, or the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us.**

"Oh no," Poseidon whispered.

**All I cared about was finding the dining area. And sure enough, there it was at the back of the warehouse, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser.**

They guys looked like they were all going to faint. Eyes huge, mouths-watering, leaning forward.

**Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front. **

"**Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.**

"**Awesome," I said.**

"**Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."**

**Before I could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."**

"**Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said.**

**Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, so I figured it must have been my imagination.**

"No. That vial monster hates my children." Athena answered the unasked question.

Poseidon was going to say something but decided against it.

"**Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful grey eyes, child."**

"She's not wrong there." Percy whispered to Annabeth, making her smile. She really missed him.

**Only later did I wonder how she knew Annabeth's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves.**

**Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.**

Everyone was day dreaming about the food now, everyone except for Demeter, who looked sick.

**I was half way through my burger when I remembered to breathe.**

"Typical." Artemis said annoyed.

**Annabeth slurped her shake.**

**Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat.**

"**What's that hissing noise?" he asked.**

**I listened, but I didn't hear anything. Annabeth shook her head.**

"**Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."**

"**I take vitamins. For my ears."**

"Not entirely bad." Hermes acknowledged.

"Uh…thanks?" Grover replied.

"**That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."**

"You know I like this monster. We're not usually treated to a fabulous meal before we get attacked. It just seems so much more…civilized." Travis noted.

The demigods, Apollo and Hermes were laughing while the other gods looked at them weirdly.

**Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her head-dress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, but I was feeling satisfied after the burger, and a little sleepy, **

"You're letting the trance get to you, punk." Ares said disapprovingly.

Everyone looked at him shocked.

"What?" he said.

Thalia decided to continue reading.

**and I thought the least I could do was try and make small talk with our hostess.**

"**So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested.**

"Couldn't think of anything else Kelp Head?" Thalia said shaking her head disapprovingly. Nico joined.

"**Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders.**

"Who would order from her?" Apollo asked.

Persephone and Hades shared a look.

**Statuary is very popular, you know."**

"**A lot of business on this road?"**

"**Not so much, no. Since the highway was built…most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."**

**My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better then you see in most garden statues. But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she was startled, or even terrified.**

"**Ah," Aunty E said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."**

"**You make these statues yourself?" I asked.**

"**Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.**

The demigods rolled their eyes, then smiled. That was so Percy.

**Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"**

"FINALLY!" Everyone yelled.

"**It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young.**

"I was not jealous!" Athena said in disgust.

The rolled their eyes at the thousand year old argument.

**I had a…a boyfriend, you know, **

Poseidon scoffed.

**and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."**

**I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her. My eyelids kept getting heavier, my full stomach making me sleepy. Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?**

Everyone groaned.

"Snap out of it already." Rachel told him.

"**Maybe we should go.**

"Yes, go." Athena and Poseidon said together. They glared at each other.

**I mean, the ring master will be waiting."**

**She sounded tense. I wasn't sure why. Grover was eating the wax paper off the tray now, but if Aunty Em found that strange, she didn't say anything.**

"**Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."**

Percy smiled, he loved those gray eyes. He took Annabeth's hand behind his back, making her smile.

**She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek,**

Athena looked angry at the fact that…thing tried to touch her daughter.

**but Annabeth stood up abruptly. **

"**We really should go."**

"**Yes!" Grover swallowed his wax paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"**

**I didn't want to leave. I felt full and content. Aunty Em was so nice. I wanted to stay with her a while.**

Athena frowned. He was fully under the trance. Now he will not only be no help, but he will be a threat to her daughter's safety.

"**Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"**

"Uh-oh?" Apollo said, earning a shower of salt water and a deadly glare from Athena.

"**A pose?" Annabeth asked warily.**

"**A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."**

"Not everyone." Dionysus murmured, flipping the page of his magazine.

**Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy-"**

"**Sure we can," I said.**

Everyone groaned, and Poseidon began to worry.

**I was irritated with Annabeth for being so bossy,**

"Tell me about it," Conner mumbled making Travis snicker.

"What did you say?" Percy asked harshly.

"Nothing!" They both said jumping. Messing with Annabeth was one thing, but messing with Annabeth when Percy was around, was an instant death wish.

**so rude to an old lady who had just fed us for free. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. "What's the harm?"**

"There is so much harm." Nico answered.

Thalia slapped him.

"Ow! What was that for?" he asked.

She shrugged. "No reason. I just wanted to hit you."

The demigods burst out laughing, while Nico half glared, half pouted.

"**Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm."**

**I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door, into the garden statues.**

**Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."**

"**Not much light for a photo," I remarked.**

"And that's when I started to realize something was wrong." Percy told them.

"**Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"**

"**Where's your camera?" Grover asked.**

"That would be helpful." Leo said thoughtfully.

**Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"**

**Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."**

"**Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear."**

**She still had no camera in her hands.**

"Don't you think, that would've been, an obvious give away?" Jason asked.

"It must've been a deep, deep trance." Apollo observed.

_Or he's a guy. _Artemis concluded.

"**Percy-" Annabeth said.**

**Some instinct warned me to listen to Annabeth, but I was fighting the sleepy feeling, the comfortable lull that came from the food and the old lady's voice.**

"**I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said, "You know, I can't see very well in this cursed veil…."**

"This is not good." Poseidon whispered.

"**Percy, something's wrong," Annabeth insisted.**

"No, duh." Nico said.

"Shut up Death Brat." Annabeth told him.

"That's his father." Demeter mocked.

Both death brats huffed.

"**Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"**

"**That **_**is **_**Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.**

"**Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted.**

"Finally!" the throne room shouted.

**She whipped her Yankees cap on her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and me off the bench.**

"Thank you!" Poseidon said.

Annabeth blushed slightly.

**I was on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandaled feet. **

**I could hear Grover scrambling off in one direction, Annabeth in the other. But I was too dazed to move.**

"Noooooooooo," Poseidon whispered.

**Then I heard a strange, rasping sound above me. My eyes rose to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for finger nails.**

**I almost looked higher,**

Poseidon held his breath.

**but somewhere off to my left Annabeth screamed, "No! Don't!"**

"Thank you." Poseidon breathed.

**More rasping-the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from…from about where Aunty Em's head would be.**

"Ok, he's starting to process it." Thalia joked.

"**Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, **_**"Maia!"**_

"Maia." Hermes sighed.

**to kick-start his flying sneakers.**

**I couldn't move.**

"Please move." Poseidon whispered.

**I stared at Aunty Em's gnarled claws, and tried to fight the groggy trance the old woman had put me in.**

"**Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," **

Annabeth smirked secretly, taking a glance at her boyfriend, who winked at her.

**she told me soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."**

"Don't listen." Poseidon whispered getting paler by the second.

**I fought the urge to obey. Instead I looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens-a gazing ball. I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving,**

"He's getting warmer." Nico interrupted.

**withering like serpents.**

"Almost there." Thalia said.

**Aunty Em.**

**Aunty "M."**

**How could I have been so stupid?**

"Easy, your Percy." Thalia explained making the demigods laugh.

**Think, I told myself.**

"Whoa, don't hurt yourself." Nico said, he ended up getting heeled by Apollo.

**How did Medusa die in the myth?**

"Perseus killed her while she and her sisters were asleep." Athena answered.

Poseidon rolled his eyes at her.

**But I couldn't think. Something told me that in the myth Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by my namesake, Perseus.**

Zeus smiled proudly at his son's accomplishment.

Poseidon noticed and rolled his eyes at him as well.

**She wasn't anywhere near asleep now. If she wanted, she could take those talons right now and rake open my face.**

Athena and Poseidon both paled.

"**The Grey-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother.**

"Please don't." Poseidon asked gently, trying not to burst.

"**Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."**

Athena opened her mouth to protest, but Thalia cut her off by reading.

"**Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, somewhere in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"**

"**Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back into a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."**

"Ya because turning into a statue is so much better." Conner said sarcastically.

"**No," I muttered. I tried to make my legs move.**

"**Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."**

"Sometimes it feels like that's true." Jason whispered so only the demigods would hear. They all agreed.

"**Percy!" Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nose dive.**

"Huh?"

**Grover yelled, "Duck!"**

"Ohhh."

**I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.**

"Uh oh.' The demigods coursed.

"So much faith!" Grover shouted sarcastically.

Everyone snickered at the angry satyr.

"**Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"**

**That finally jolted me into action. **

Poseidon let out a breath before realizing that they were still stuck with Medusa.

**Knowing Grover, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and nail me.**

The throne room was once more filled with snickers.

"Again, so much faith." Grover sighed, making Percy smile.

**I dove to one side.**

_**Thwak!**_

**At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree.**

Cue laughter.

**Then Medusa roared with rage.**

There was silence in the throne room until…

"Way to go, Grover!" Conner and Travis cheered causing a chain reaction.

Grover slowly turned red and smiled.

"**You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"**

"**That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.**

"Ya you tell her, Grover!" Apollo cheered standing up.

"Sit down, sorry excuse for my brother." Artemis yanked Apollo down.

"Feeling the love." Apollo said rubbing his arm.

**I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass.**

_**Ker-whack!**_

"**Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.**

Aphrodite made a face. _She definitely needs a makeover…_she thought.

**Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!"**

**I jumped so high my feet nearly cleared a garden gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!"**

"She never stops." Travis told them.

"Hey it's fun watching you guys pee your pants and freak out." Annabeth answered.

The guys pouted while the girls laughed at them.

**Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible. "You have to cut her head off."**

"**What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here."**

"I kinda agree with Percy on this one." Katie stated.

"No, if they leave there won't be any action." Ares said cracking his knuckles.

He got some weird looks.

"**Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but…" Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon.**

"Nice cover up Annabeth." Jason half muttered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!" Jason said hurriedly.

**Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You-you've got a chance."**

"I wouldn't count on it." Zeus said lowly so Poseidon wouldn't hear.

Unfortunately he did.

"**What? I can't-"**

"**Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"**

**She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other,**

"Wonder why she chose that one?" Thalia whispered to Nico.

They both started snickering, gaining the attention of Aphrodite.

**turned to stone by the monster.**

**Annabeth grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better." **

Athena nodded.

**She studied the sphere critically. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflections size should be off by a factor of-"**

"**Would you speak English?"**

"She rarely does." Clarisse sighed.

The other demigods nodded in agreement.

"**I **_**am**_**!" She tossed me the glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass. **_**Never **_**look at her directly."**

"**Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!"**

"_**Roooaaarrr!"**_

"**Maybe not," Grover corrected.**

The demigods burst into laughter.

**He went in for another pass with the tree branch.**

"**Hurry," Annabeth told me. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash."**

"Thanks. You know the amount of faith I get from you guys is outstanding." Grover grunted.

"Aww, you know we love you." Annabeth said.

**I took out my pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide elongated in my hand.**

**I followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair.**

**I kept my eyes locked on the gazing ball so I would only glimpse Medusa's reflection, not the real thing. Then, in the green tinted glass, I saw her.**

**Grover was coming in for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low. Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Ummphh!"**

"Oooooo, that's got to hurt." Chris said cringing.

**Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, "Hey!"**

"Here we go." Poseidon sighed.

**I advanced on her, which wasn't easy, holding a sword and a glass ball. If she charged, I'd have a hard time defending myself.**

Poseidon paled again.

**But she let me approach-twenty feet, ten feet.**

Everyone leaned forward in anticipation.

**I can see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't **_**that **_**ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse.**

"Nope, Athena is just that creative." Poseidon rolled his eyes.

Athena smiled smugly, making the guy demigods scout away a little.

"**You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."**

**I hesitated, fascinated by the face I saw reflected in the glass-the eyes that seemed to burn straight through the green tint, making my arms go weak.**

"Don't fall into a trance now." Poseidon muttered under his breath.

He wasn't the only who seemed worried. Some of the other gods were tense they liked this demigod.

**From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!" **

**Medusa cackled. "Too late."**

**She lunged at me with her talons.**

Everyone held a breath.

**I slashed up with my sword, heard a sinking **_**shlock!, **_**then hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern-the sound of a monster disintegrating.**

The throne room was silent.

"He did it." Artemis said quietly.

Percy was blushing like crazy and not catching anyone's eye.

Everyone was looking at him in amazement.

Poseidon leaned over to Zeus. "And she was awake this time."

Zeus glared at Poseidon while he laughed and the throne room cheered.

**Something fell to the ground next to my foot. It took all my will power not to look. I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock, little dying snake heads tugging at my shoe laces.**

The girls in the throne room looked a little green. Especially Aphrodite.

"**Oh, yuck," Grover said.**

"Yuck doesn't even begin to explain it." Aphrodite said disgusted.

**His eyes were still tightly closed, but I guess he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming.**

At that the boys seemed to get green too.

"**Mega-yuck."**

**Annabeth came up next to me, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said, "Don't move."**

**Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.**

At that Aphrodite flashed out.

"Is she going to be okay?" Jason asked.

"Ya, she'll be fine." Hephaestus stated. "She'll be back before the chapter is over."

"**Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling.**

Annabeth crossed her arms a mumbled something about not trembling.

Thalia decided to ignore her and continue reading.

"**Yeah," I decided, though I felt like throwing up my double cheeseburger.**

"I did too." Aphrodite said reappearing in the throne room. She looked better, but she was still a little green.

"**Why didn't…why didn't the head evaporate?"**

"**Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."**

**Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head. **

"Oh, like when a cartoon character hits their head and they have birds flying around them." Leo said.

The guys nodded enthusiastically, while the girls rolled their eyes at them.

"**The Red Baron," I said. "Good job, man."**

"Good job he was amazing! Who knew you had it in you Grover." Travis smiled.

The demigods nodded in agreement, making Grover blush.

**He managed a bashful grin. "That really was **_**not**_** fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun.**

"It sounds like fun." Katie said.

The demigods looked at her socked. She was usually the one that would back away from something extreme, unless she needed to.

Katie slowly turned red from all the staring.

**But crashing into a concrete bear? **_**Not **_**fun."**

**He snatched his shoes out of the air. I recapped my sword. Together, the three of us stumbled back to the ware-house.**

**We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head. We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak.**

"Understandable." Demeter stated.

**Finally I said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"**

Poseidon nodded enthusiastically.

"Excuse me?" Athena turned to Percy. "I'll have you know it is one hundred percent entirely your father's fault."

"My fault? You're the one who turned her into that thing." Poseidon retorted.

Athena opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Zeus.

"You guys have this argument all the time, we are not doing it again now. Thalia please continue."

Poseidon and Athena gave each other death glares, then turned back to the book.

**Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him.**

The gods looked at Poseidon in awe. They were all thinking about how he managed that.

Percy was blushing slightly gaining the attention of the goddesses, making them blush.

**My face was burning. "Oh, so now it's **_**my **_**fault we meet Medusa." **

**Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice, she said: "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm.'"**

"**Forget it," I said. "You're impossible."**

"**You're insufferable."**

"**You're-"**

"Oooo, lovers fight." Thalia whispered Nico, Rachel and Grover.

They all snickered.

"**Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine,**

"You have no idea satyr," Hera said rubbing her temples.

The gods nodded looking back and forth between Poseidon and Athena.

_Wow, they're going to be so mad when they find out about me and Percy…_Annabeth thought. The only thing that got her through it was Percy's smile.

**and satyrs don't even **_**get **_**migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"**

**I stared at the thing. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: **WE APPRICIATE YOUR BUSINESS!

**I was angry, not just with Annabeth or her mom, but with all the gods for this whole quest,**

"Uh oh." Travis said.

"What did you do?" Rachel and Katie asked at the same time.

Percy smiled sheepishly.

"That's not a good sign." Chris stated.

"Excuse me, do you remember us? Not knowing what you're talking about." Demeter told them annoyed.

"Ya, I would be worried for your future self if I were you." Thalia told the gods.

"Why because this twelve year old got mad? Please Thalia what's the most he could do?" Zeus asked.

"Well let's find out." Thalia said opening the book again.

**for getting us blown off the road and in two major fights the very first day out from camp. At this rate, we'd never make it to L.A. alive, much less before the summer solstice.**

Everyone in the throne room, except for Percy, face palmed.

"Not with that attitude you're not." Athena said through clenched teeth.

"You probably just jinxed the whole trip." Clarisse sighed.

**What had Medusa said?**

_**Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue.**_

"Don't listen to her, son." Poseidon said quietly.

Percy heard and smiled at his father.

**I got up. "I'll be back."**

"**Percy," Annabeth called after me. "What are you-"**

**I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden.**

Everyone turned to the mentioned customers.

"What? She's reasonably priced." Hades told them.

Persephone blushed.

**According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket.**

"That was actually pretty smart." Athena acknowledged.

"Wow, a compliment. We're getting close." Percy whispered in Annabeth's ear.

Annabeth smiled.

**In the cash register I found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins. I rummaged around the rest of the office until I found the right-size box.**

"What are you planning?" Zeus said leaning forward.

No one answered.

**I went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head,**

"No," Athena whispered.

**and filled out the delivery slip:**

**The Gods**

**Mount Olympus**

**600****th**** Floor, Empire State Building**

**New York, NY**

**With best wishes,**

**PERCY JACKSON**

The throne room was silent.

"What?" Zeus thundered.

"You got guts kid." Ares said approvingly.

Poseidon was silent, _Does he have a death wish?_ He glanced at his brothers, then promised himself he would do everything he could to make sure Percy was ok.

While the gods were talking, the demigods were joking around.

"That is so you, Percy." Rachel said

"I still can't believe you did that and didn't tell us." Travis whined.

"How many times have you done stuff and not told us." Percy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Uh..um..well.."

"Thought so."

"Ok! Can we get back to reading!" Thalia screamed above the conversations.

"**They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think your impertinent."**

**I poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The packaged floated off the table and disappeared with a **_**pop!**_

"**I **_**am **_**impertinent," I said.**

**I looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize.**

_Good…_Athena thought…_Annabeth will set him straight._

**She didn't.**

_What?_

Annabeth noticed the looks she was getting and admitted, "I was impressed."

Percy smiled smugly, while Athena looked at her in shock.

**She seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods. "Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."**

"Well that's it." Thalia said.

"Well it is late. We should go to bed and we will continue in the morning." Artemis said.

The gods flashed out, leaving the demigods.

When they got to their quarters they all sat down together.

"So…" Conner started. "What do you want to do?"

"How about a movie?" Percy asked.

"Perfect."


	18. Date Night?

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 18: Date Night?

"So what movie?" Jason asked as the demigods filed into the theater.

"I don't care as long as it's horror." Nico said plopping down into a chair.

"Of course you would want to watch a horror film, emo." Percy joked.

"I am not emo." Nico argued for the hundredth time.

"Whatever, I'm down for a horror movie too." Thalia said.

"I have no problem with a horror flick." Katie spoke up.

"Ok, how about scream?" Piper asked pulling it down from the shelf.

The group nodded and got ready to watch the movie.

Meanwhile on the other side of Olympus, Aphrodite was scrambling around the security room.

"What's going on Aph?" Apollo asked as he and the rest of the gods walked in.

"Well I told you that I would get proof, so here it is. The demigods are having movie night, and I thought it could be the perfect opportunity to see who they're dating."

Artemis groaned.

"The amount of love I've felt from these demigods is outrageous, so take a seat and let's get started." Aphrodite commanded more then asked.

The gods sat down while she pulled out a white board. She turned to the gods.

"Ok so there are six possible couples." She stated, then she looked a bit uneasy. "Some you may not like it, but I'm going by what I feel." She added fast.

She turned around and stated writing on the white board.

"The first couple," Aphrodite started. "is Travis and Katie."

The room was silent until Hermes said, "What?"

"Travis and Katie they are so in love." Aphrodite answered.

"But Katie is constantly hitting Travis, and mocking him." Demeter spoke up.

"That's what I mean they are constantly flirting." Aphrodite pushed.

"What?" Hermes said again.

"Travis and Katie, Hermes. Keep up." Aphrodite said annoyed.

"I don't think so." Demeter argued. "I would know."

"I'm going to prove it."

"I-"

"Travis likes Katie, Katie likes Travis, can we move on." Ares interrupted.

"Gladly." Aphrodite squealed. "Couple number two, Clarisse and Chris."

Ares smile dropped.

"What?" Hermes repeated.

Apollo was laughing at him in the background.

"Clarisse is not dating." Ares insisted.

"Uh, ya she is." Aphrodite smiled.

"Ok, who's next." Hephaestus interrupted.

"Couple number three, a personal favourite, Piper and Jason." Aphrodite said as she added them to the board.

She turned to Zeus. "What do you think?"

"I think it is exactly like my son to get a daughter of Aphrodite." He replied.

Hera smacked him on the head, and glared.

"Nice couple." He muttered rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ok…moving on, couple number four Thalia and Nico."

"WHAT!"

"Ok before you say anything, just know this one is confusing. I feel love between them but I'm unsure what kind of love. I was thinking it's more family love because they're cousins, but it's stronger and different then what I feel between them and Percy. Almost…truer."

"But Thalia is my hunter, she can't date or have an relationship." Artemis argued.

"And even if she could I wouldn't let her have one with his son." Zeus added pointing at Hades.

"Like I want my son with your daughter."

"Please introduce the next couple Aphrodite, before they get started." Poseidon sighed.

"Funny you should say that Poseidon. Couple number five, Percy and Rachel."

Everyone thought about this for a moment then…

"Not happening Rachel's my oracle." Apollo said stubbornly.

"I know I thought about this and I believe this one is very unlikely, but I do feel something between them, so I put it there just in case." Aphrodite answered. "The one I believe is more likely even though it is the most unexpected is…couple number six…Percy and…Annabeth."

"WHAT!"

"There is no way Annabeth would date that…sea spawn!" Athena said disgusted.

"There is no way Percy would date bird brains daughter." Poseidon retorted.

"Ok, let's just watch and see ok." Aphrodite interrupted. She grabbed a remote and pressed a button, forcing the gods to be quiet. On the screen were the demigods sitting and watching a movie together.

"Looks like a horror film, perfect." Aphrodite squealed.

The demigods were sitting in two rows of seven. The first row was Conner, Rachel, Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, and Grover. The second row had Clarisse, Chris, Piper, Jason, Leo, Katie and Travis.

The gods sat there and watched for a good fifteen minutes, until something happened. In the movie something jumped out making Katie jump. She wrapped her arms around Travis who smiled and pulled her onto his lap. She accepted also smiling and fit her head into his neck.

Demeter and Hermes sat there shocked, while the other gods smiled at the look on their faces. Aphrodite got up giddy with excitement and put a check mark next to Katie and Travis' names.

The next couple showed themselves five minutes after Katie and Travis. Nothing special happened, but Chris wrapped his arm around Clarisse and she snuggled up next to him.

Ares grunted while Hermes was frozen. Aphrodite got up and checked of Chris and Clarisse.

Ten minutes later, something in the movie made them all scream. After they got over it, Thalia screamed, "That was awesome!" she and Nico high fived and laughed while the others were looking at them weirdly.

"Ok, I'm not going to count that." Aphrodite said unsure.

"You better not." Artemis grumbled turning back to the scream.

Two minutes later, Piper jumped, putting her hands to her eyes. Jason wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. When he managed to get her hands away from her eyes he kissed the top of her head.

Zeus nodded in approval as Aphrodite jumped up and checked of their names. You could tell that she was really happy for her daughter.

When they looked back at the screen they noticed Annabeth was hidden from view.

"Hold on." Aphrodite said changing cameras.

When they finally got a better view, Annabeth was leaning her head on Percy's shoulder.

"No." Poseidon and Athena whispered.

Annabeth gently lifted her head turning toward Percy, he noticed and turned toward her too smiling. She smiled and they both leaned toward each other until…their lips met.

"NO!"

In the theater…

"NO!"

Annabeth and Percy broke apart, while Jason paused the movie.

"Did you guys hear that?" Grover asked.

"Ya, what do you think's going on?" Clarisse wondered.

"Well, whatever it is I'm pretty sure it doesn't concern us. Let's just continue the movie." Nico said turning back to the screen.

In the security room…

"No this is not happening." Athena said over and over again.

"How could they do this." Poseidon yelled.

"Both of you be quiet." Aphrodite screamed.

Everyone turned toward her.

"Thank you. Annabeth and Percy's love is the strongest I've felt in a long time. You can't get in between them, nothing can get in between them. I can tell that they have been through a lot, and all they feel they have is each other. You just can't." She looked at the screen sadly. "They've all been through it."

The room was silent.

Poseidon hesitated then quietly said, "Ok, if what you say is true and he is happy with her, I accept it."

Athena looked at him, then sighed. "I'll never one hundred percent accept it, but if I see they are happy together I will think about it."

Aphrodite squealed happily. "Thank you!"

"So what do we do know?" Persephone spoke up. "Do we tell them we know about them?"

"I think we should give the matter sometime. Maybe, they'll speak up about it and we won't have to admit we spied on them." Hades suggested.

"That's a good idea." Zeus nodded. "Hopefully that happens sooner than expected."


	19. We Get Advice from a Poodle

**The Lightning Thief**

Chapter 19: We Get Advice from a Poodle

The next morning after breakfast they gathered in the throne room again.

"Who wants to start?" Thalia asked.

"I would like to." Hestia spoke from the hearth.

Thalia smiled and handed Hestia the book.

"**We Get Advice from a Poodle,"** she started.

"A poodle?" Conner asked.

"Yup." Annabeth, Percy, and Grover answered at the same time.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

**We were pretty miserable that night.**

**We camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.**

Artemis, Rachel, Grover and Demeter growled.

**We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa have provided enough excitement for one day.**

"For sure." Poseidon nodded. Athena joined.

**We didn't want to attract anything else.**

**We decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take first watch. **

**Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground.**

"I do not snore." Annabeth told them.

"Yes you do." Percy, Grover, Nico, Thalia, and Rachel argued.

Annabeth huffed.

**Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky.**

"**Go ahead and sleep," I told him. "I'll wake you if there's trouble."**

**He nodded but still didn't close his eyes. "It makes me sad, Percy."**

"**What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?"**

"Nah, it was fun…the first five minutes." Grover stated.

"**No. **_**This**_** makes me sad." He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr."**

Artemis nodded. She loved looking at the constellations and now they were barely visible.

"Humans have destroyed the earth." Demeter said sadly.

"**Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist."**

"You think?" Thalia laughed.

Grover glared at her.

**He glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast…ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan."**

Hermes sat up a little more interested.

"**Pam? Like the cooking spray?"**

Cue face palms.

"Why would he be looking for cooking spray?" Nico asked through his fingers.

Percy just grinned.

"**Pan!" he cried indignantly. "P-A-N. The great god Pan! **

"Wow Grover. Who knew you could be so bad ass?" Thalia laughed as she punched Grover's arm.

The demigods couldn't stop laughing.

**What do you think I want my searcher's license for?"**

"How was he supposed to know? You never told him." Leo stated confused.

"Thank you!" Percy said dramatically.

Everyone just rolled their eyes.

**A strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rainwater, things that might've once been in these woods.**

Artemis closed her eyes. She loved the scent of the forest.

**Suddenly I was nostalgic for something I'd never known.**

"**Tell me about the search," I said.**

**Grover looked at me cautiously, as if he was afraid I was just making fun.**

"I kinda was." Grover admitted.

"From Percy? Come on, Grover." Travis said.

"Like Percy would even think about doing that." Rachel added.

The goddesses smiled about what a great friend Percy seems to be.

_He's very different…_Artemis thought.

"**The God of the Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago," he told me. "A sailor of the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!' When humans heard the news, the believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that we died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to find Pan. They search the earth, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep."**

"Wow, and I thought Chiron knew how to lecture." Jason said shaking his head.

Apollo was snoring in his throne.

"APOLLO!" Artemis screamed.

Apollo jumped up and fell off his throne.

The demigods were snickering, while Apollo got back up.

"**And you want to be a searcher."**

"**It's my life's dream," he said. "My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand …the statue you saw back there-"**

"**Oh, right, sorry."**

There was a moment of silence.

**Grover shook his head. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive."**

"**Hang on-**_**the first**_**?"**

"So no one has returned alive in two thousand years?" Katie asked.

"Sadly no." Hermes answered her. He looked down thinking about his son.

**Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They're never seen alive again."**

"**Not once in two thousand years?"**

"**No." **

"**And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?"**

"**None."**

"That sucks." Travis said.

"Ya, I'm sorry Grover." Katie told him.

Everyone was looking at Grover with sympathetic looks.

"It's ok guys. I've learn to live with it a while ago." Grover stated.

"**But you still want to go," I said, amazed. "I mean, you really think you'll be the one to find Pan?"**

The demigods smiled at each other, while Hermes was thinking about the possibility.

"**I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. It's the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe that Pan can still be awaken."**

Hermes smiled…_Maybe Grover will find Pan._

**I stared at the orange haze of the sky and tried understand how Grover could pursue a dream that seemed so hopeless. Then again, was I any better?**

"True." Thalia agreed.

Poseidon paled. He was worried about the danger his son is about to get into.

"**How are we going to get into the Underworld?" I asked him. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"**

Hades smiled madly.

"I pretty good chance with you there." Annabeth told Percy.

The other demigods nodded.

The gods were exchanging confused looks.

"What do you mean?" Hephaestus spoke up.

"You'll find out later. Please continue Lady Hestia." Percy said rushed.

"**I don't know" he admitted. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office? Annabeth was telling me-"**

"**Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out."**

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Said girl turned to Percy.

"Nothing." Percy said a bit rushed.

"Thought so." Annabeth said smiling as Percy took her hand.

"Whipped." Conner whispered to Travis, Thalia, Nico, and Rachel.

They couldn't help but laugh.

"**Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person.**

"Thank you, Grover." Annabeth turned to said satyr.

"No problem."

**After all, she forgave me…." His voice faltered.**

"Grover!"

"Ok, I get it Thals." Grover said, his hands up in surrender.

"**What do you mean?" I asked. "Forgave you for what?"**

"I didn't forgive, because there was nothing to forgive you for." Annabeth told him.

Grover sighed. "Please continue Lady Hestia."

**Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in playing notes on his pipes.**

"**Wait a minute," I said. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp for five years. She wasn't…I mean, your first assignment that went wrong-"**

"Not exactly, but it's amazing your figured that much out." Thalia playfully punched Percy.

"I feel so loved." Percy said shaking his head.

"We try."

"**I can't talk about it," Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested that he'd start crying if I pressed him.**

"So you obviously didn't." Clarisse concluded.

"Why would I?" Percy asked.

Hestia smiled.

"**But as I was saying, back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed that there is something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."**

_Hmm_…Athena thought.

"**Well, duh. I'm getting blamed for stealing a thunderbolt that Hades took."**

"I didn't take it." Hades grumbled.

Zeus wasn't so sure.

"**That's not what I mean," Grover said. "The Fur-The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds as Yancy Academy…why did she wait so long to try to kill you?**

"Not that I'm complaining." Grover added quickly.

The demigods and Poseidon nodded enthusiastically.

**Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as the could've been."**

_Hmm…_

"**They seemed plenty aggressive to me."**

"To me too." Poseidon said.

**Grover shook his head. "They were screeching at us: 'Where is it? Where?'"**

"**Asking about me," I said.**

"**Maybe…but Annabeth and I, we both got the feeling that they weren't asking about a person. They said 'Where is **_**it**_**?' They seemed to be asking about an object."**

"That's true." Athena said, the wheels in her head obviously turning.

Everyone sat in silence, thinking about it.

"**That doesn't make sense."**

"**I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt…." He looked at me like he was hoping for answers**

The demigods snorted.

**but I didn't have any.**

"Shocker." The demigods chorused.

Percy stuck his tongue at them.

**I thought about what Medusa had said: I was being used by the gods. What lay ahead of me was worse than petrification.**

Poseidon looked uncomfortable, he shouldn't have done this to Percy.

"**I haven't been straight with you," I told Grover. "I don't care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother."**

Everyone looked to Percy, ready to say something, but stopped when they saw his expression. He wasn't crying but he was looking off into the distance, his eyes full of sadness and regret.

Annabeth took his hand behind their backs and squeezed it.

**Grover blew a soft note on his pipes. "I know that, Percy. But are you sure that's the only reason?"**

Everyone looked at Grover questionably.

"**I'm not doing it to help my father. He doesn't care about me. I don't care about him."**

Poseidon looked over to Percy sadly. Does his son really not care about him.

Percy shook his head at his father.

**Grover gazed down from his tree branch. "Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth. **

Annabeth and Athena smiled.

**I'm not as brave as you.**

Percy looked down. He didn't see himself as brave.

**But I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. **

Poseidon perked up.

**You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. **

Poseidon smiled.

**That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you done."**

Percy thought back to that moment. At the time he denied what Grover was saying, but now that he really thought about it, he realized that he was trying to impress his father, let him know who he was and what he could do.

"**Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you're wrong. I don't care what he thinks."**

Poseidon sat in his throne confused. As were most people in the throne room.

**Grover pulled his feet up onto the branch. "Okay, Percy. Whatever."**

"**Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about.**

Rachel punched Percy.

"Gods Percy, it's getting annoying."

"But-"

"Don't you dare." She cut him off.

**We barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no money and no way west."**

**Grover looked at the night sky, like he was thinking about that problem. "How about **_**I **_**take first watch, huh? You get some sleep."**

**I wanted to protest, but he started to play Mozart, soft and sweet, **

"Well that doesn't sound like Grover's playing." Thalia said smiling at said satyr.

Grover rolled his eyes, but still managed to blush.

**and I turned away, my eyes stinging. **

"Wimp." Ares whispered. Unfortunate for him, Poseidon heard.

**After a few bars of Piano Concerto no. 12, I was asleep.**

**In my dreams,**

"Ughh." Everyone groaned.

**I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit. Gray mist creatures churned all around me, whispering rags of smoke that I somehow knew were the spirits of the dead.**

Cue looks at Hades.

**They tugged on my clothes, trying to pull me back, but I felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge of the chasm.**

**Looking down made me dizzy. **

**The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, I knew it must be bottomless.**

"Tartarus." The gods whispered.

_Why would the sea spawn be dreaming of this place…_Athena thought.

**Yet I had a feeling that something was trying to rise from the abyss, something huge and evil.**

The throne room fell silent while the gods took this in.

Hestia sensing a fight about to break out decided to keep reading.

_**The little hero, **_**an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. **_**Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do.**_

**The voice felt ancient-cold and heavy. I t wrapped around me like sheets of lead.**

"It can't be," Zeus finally found his voice.

"What are we going to do?" Apollo asked.

"Nothing," Athena interjected. "We can't do anything. The note said that we couldn't change the future, no matter how much we want to."

The gods nodded uneasily.

_**They have mislead you, boy, **_**it said. **_**Barter with me.**__**I will give you what you want.**_

"Don't listen to him son." Poseidon whispered.

**A shimmering image hovered over the void: my mother, frozen at the moment she'd dissolved in a shower of gold.**

Cue an angry sea god glare at Hades.

**Her face was distorted with pain, as if the minotaur were still squeezing her neck. Her eyes looked directly at me, pleading: **_**Go!**_

Poseidon and Percy looked down sadly.

**I tried to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work.**

**Cold laughter echoed from the chasm.**

**An invisible force pulled me forward.**

Poseidon started hyperventilating. _Wake up, Percy. Wake up…_he pleaded.

**It would drag me into the pit unless I stood firm.**

_**Help me rise, boy. **_

The gods stood frozen.

**The voice became hungrier. **_**Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!**_

**The spirits of the dead whispered around me, **_**No! Wake!**_

_Why would the spirits of the dead be helping him…_Athena questioned.

**The image of my mother began to fade. The thing in the pit tightened its grip around me.**

**I realized it wasn't interested in pulling me in. it was using me to pull itself **_**out**_**.**

Again the gods were frozen. The fear about what was going to happen was too intense.

_**Good, **_**it murmured. **_**Good.**_

_**Wake! **_**the dead whispered. **_**Wake!**_

**Someone was shaking me.**

**My eyes opened, and it was daylight.**

"**Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."**

"I believe you're confusing Percy with Nico." Thalia pointed out.

"No, they're both zombies." Annabeth answered.

"Hey!"

**I was trembling from the dream. I could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around y chest. "How long was I asleep?"**

"**Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Annabeth tossed me a bag of nacho-flavoured corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar.**

Demeter wrinkled her nose at the unhealthy food.

"**And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."**

**My eyes had trouble focusing.**

**Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket with something fuzzy in his lap, a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed animal.**

Everyone was giving Grover strange looks.

"Just keep reading." He told them.

**No. it wasn't a stuffed animal. It was a pink poodle.**

"Oh."

"Who would die their poor dog pink?" Rachel said clearly pissed.

Everyone just shrugged.

**The poodle yapped at me suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not."**

The demigods burst out laughing.

"You even got insulted by a pink poodle." Travis said through his laughter, causing the demigods to laugh harder.

Percy rolled his eyes at the Stoll.

**I blinked. "Are you…talking to that thing?"**

**The poodle growled.**

"Wow, that is one mean poodle." Conner acknowledged.

Rachel slapped him.

"**This **_**thing,**_**" Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."**

"**You can talk to animals?"**

**Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."**

**I stared at Annabeth, figuring she would crack up at this practical joke they were playing on me,**

The throne room nodded.

**but she looked deadly serious.**

"**I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," I said. "Forget it."**

"I agree. This is seriously weird." Apollo said making a face.

Most agreed with him.

"**Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."**

**The poodle growled.**

**I said hello to the poodle.**

The demigods burst out laughing, while Poseidon looked at his son curiously.

_A poodle, huh?_

**Grover explained that he came across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.**

"Awww." Aphrodite cooed.

"**How does Gladiola know about the reward?" I asked.**

"**He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."**

"Ya, because that's really obvious." Nico said rolling his eyes at Grover.

Thalia nodded in agreement.

"**Of course," I said. "Silly me."**

"Got to love your sarcasm." Jason smiled.

Percy smiled back.

"**So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice,**

"I don't have a strategy voice." Annabeth complained.

"Yes you do." The demigods answered.

"**we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."**

**I thought about my dream-the whispering voices of the dead, the thing in the chasm, **

A shiver chorused through the room.

**and my mother's face, shimmering as it dissolved into gold. All that might be waiting for me in the west.**

"**Not another bus," I said warily.**

"No." Poseidon and Athena said together. They glared at each other.

"**No," Annabeth agreed.**

**She pointed downhill, toward train track I hadn't been able to see in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west bound train leaves at noon."**

"Well, that is all." Hestia said gently closing the book.

"Ooo, ooo, I want to read." Leo said bouncing up and down grabbing the book.

"**I plunge to my death," **he read.


End file.
